''Howearion hilli'', also known as the Lord Howe semislug, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of semislug that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

Description

The shell of the mature animal is 6.9–9.1 mm in height, with a diameter of 13.4–17 mm, ear-shaped with rounded, rapidly expanding whorls, and with flattened spire and apex. It is glossy and golden in colouration. The umbilicus is closed. The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is ovately lunate. The animal is yellowish-cream with brown stripes and spots and tiny white flecks.

Distribution

The semislug is widespread in the lowlands of the island, as well as on the lower slopes of the southern mountains.

References

* hilli Gastropods of Lord Howe Island Taxa named by James Charles Cox Gastropods described in 1873 {{Helicarionidae-stub