Climocella kaitaka

Climocella kaitaka
Holotype from the Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Superfamily: Punctoidea
Family: Charopidae
Genus: Climocella
Species:
C. kaitaka
Binomial name
Climocella kaitaka
Goulstone, 1996

Climocella kaitaka is a species of land snail belonging to the family Charopidae. Endemic to New Zealand, the species is found in the Auckland and Waikato Regions, often in association with C. akarana.

Description

C. kaitaka has a shell that measures up to 2.8 mm (0.11 in) by 1.4 mm (0.055 in), which has a unicoloured shell of four whorls, and a protoconch of 1.25 whorls with 9-10 spiral lirae. It can be identified due to its fine ribbing and secondary protoconch radials.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by James Frederick Goulstone in 1995, who named the species after kaitaka, a traditional Māori cloak. Goulstone collected the holotype of the species from Ngaheretuku Reserve near Clevedon on 1 October 1985, which is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Ecology

The species is often found alongside C. akarana.

Distribution and habitat

C. kaitaka is endemic to New Zealand, found in the upper North Island in the Auckland Region and Waikato Region, including the Coromandel Peninsula, Hauraki Gulf Islands, and the Mercury Islands. It lives in a wide range of habitats, ranging from dry to moist, and appears more commonly in limestone from the western Waikato Region.

References

  1. ↑ Climocella kaitaka Goulstone, 1996. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 18 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Goulstone, James Frederick (1995). "Five New Species of Climocella n. gen. (Punctoidea: Charopidae)". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 32: 63–90. JSTOR 42906453. Wikidata Q58677487.
  3. ↑ Blom, Wilma Maija (2025). "Annotated Catalogue of Fossil and Extant Molluscan Types in the Auckland War Memorial Museum". Bulletin of the Auckland Museum. 22. doi:10.32912/bulletin/22. OCLC 1550165130. Wikidata Q135397912.
  4. ↑ "Climocella kaitaka". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Details: Climocella kaitaka Goulstone, 1996". NZ Mollusca. Retrieved 18 November 2025.