''Placostylus'', or flax snails, are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of very large, air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates is an informal group (previously an order, and before that, a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group inclu ...

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Bothriembryontidae Bothriembryontidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Orthalicoidea. Taxonomy This family has been named Placostylidae and had no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of ...

.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Placostylus H. Beck, 1837. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=818479 on 2020-11-14 The shells of the snails in this genus can be as large as 4.5 inches (11 cm) in maximum dimension. Many species within this genus are now

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Taxonomy

''Placostylus'' is the type genus of the family Placostylidae. It was placed within Placostylidae. Breure et al. (2010)Breure A. S. H., Groenenberg D. S. J. & Schilthuizen M. (2010). "New insights in the phylogenetic relations within the Orthalicoidea (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) based on 28S sequence data". ''

Basteria ''Basteria'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Netherlands Malacological Society, covering research on molluscs. It was established in 1936 and is now published mostly in English. The editor-in-chief is Ruud Bank. A ...

'' 74(1-3): 25-31. moved ''

Prestonella ''Prestonella'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae.Breure A. S. H. & Romero P. (2012). "Support and surprises: molecular phylogeny of the land s ...

'' and ''

Bothriembryon ''Bothriembryon'' is a genus of tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Bothriembryontidae. B. J. Smith (1992) made the last review of the genus summarizing all known data. Distribution The ...

'' to Placostylidae. Subsequently, Breure & Romero (2012) confirmed previous results from 2010 and they renamed Placostylidae to Bothriembryontidae.Breure A. S. H. & Romero P. (2012). "Support and surprises: molecular phylogeny of the land snail superfamily Orthalicoidea using a three-locus gene analysis with a divergence time analysis and ancestral area reconstruction (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)". '' Archiv für Molluskenkunde: International Journal of Malacology'' 141(1): 1-20. .

Distribution

This genus of snails occurs in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

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 ...

, and Northland in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. There are three species in New Zealand and no subspecies.Buckley T. R., Stringer I., Gleeson D., Howitt R., Attanayake D., Parrish R., Sherley G. & Rohan M. (2011). "A revision of the New Zealand ''Placostylus'' land snails using mitochondrial DNA and shell morphometric analyses, with implications for conservation". ''

New Zealand Journal of Zoology New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

'' 38(1): 55-81. .

Species

In former classification, two subgenera were recognized: subgenus ''

Basileostylus ''Basileostylus'' is a genus of very large, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae Bothriembryontidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mo ...

'' Haas, 1935"Class Gastropoda"
New Zealand Mollusca, accessed 26 December 2010. subgenus '' Maoristylus'' Haas, 1935 Species within this genus include: * † ''

Placostylus abbreviatus ''Placostylus'', or flax snails, are a genus of very large, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Placostylus H. Beck, 1837. Accessed through ...

'' (Gassies, 1871) * ''

Placostylus ambagiosus ''Placostylus ambagiosus'' is a species of flax snail ( Māori: pūpū whakarongotaua), a large air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae. Description This snail has a large ( long) s ...

'' Suter, 1906 * ''

Placostylus bivaricosus The Lord Howe flax snail or the Lord Howe placostylus, scientific name ''Placostylus bivaricosus'', is a species of large air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2 ...

'' (Gaskoin, 1855) * ''

Placostylus bondeensis ''Placostylus'', or flax snails, are a genus of very large, air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Bothriembryontidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Placost ...

'' (Crosse & Souverbie, 1869) * '' Placostylus caledonicus'' (Petit, 1845) * '' Placostylus eddystonensis'' Pfeiffer, 1855 * '' Placostylus fibratus'' (Martyn, 1789) - type species

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...

(1992). "Opinion 1662. ''Limax fibratus'' Martyn, 1784 and ''Nerita hebraea'' Martyn, 1786 (currently ''Placostylus fibratus'' and ''Nerita hebraea''; Mollusca, Gastropoda): specific names conserved; and ''Placostylus'' Beck, 1837; ''L. fibratus'' designated as the type species". ''

Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

'' 49: 74-75. * '' Placostylus hongii'' (Lesson, 1830) * '' Placostylus founaki'' (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1853): synonym of '' Placocharis founaki'' (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1847) * '' Placostylus fraterculus'' Rensch, 1934 * '' Placostylus gracilis'' (Broderip, 1840) * † '' Placostylus leoni'' Haas, 1935 * '' Placostylus porphyrostomus'' Pfeiffer, 1851 * '' Placostylus priscus'' Powell, 1938 * ''

Placostylus salomonis ''Placostylus'', or flax snails, are a genus of very large, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Placostylus H. Beck, 1837. Accessed through: ...

'' (Pfeiffer, 1853) * '' Placostylus scarabus'' (Albers, 1854) * † '' Placostylus senilis'' (Gassies, 1869) ;Synonyms: * ''Placostylus albersi'' Dautzenberg & Bouge in Dautzenberg, 1923: synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus souvillei'' (Morelet, 1857) (nom. nov. pro ''Placostylus eximius'' Albers not Reeve) * ''Placostylus alexander'' (Crosse, 1855): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus alexander'' (Crosse, 1855) * ''Placostylus alienus'' Pilsbry, 1893: synonym of '' Santacharis fuligineus'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1854) (original combination; junior synonym) * ''Placostylus annibal'' (Souverbie, 1869): synonym of '' Placostylus caledonicus'' (Petit, 1845) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus bavayi'' (Crosse & Marie, 1868): synonym of ''Placostylus eddystonensis bavayi'' (Crosse & Marie, 1868) * ''Placostylus bollonsi'' Suter, 1908 - New Zealand flax snail: synonym of '' Basileostylus bollonsi'' (Suter, 1908) * ''Placostylus calus'' E. A. Smith, 1892: synonym of '' Eumecostylus calus'' (E. A. Smith, 1892) (original combination) * ''Placostylus cleryi'' (Petit de la Saussage, 1850): synonym of '' Eumecostylus cleryi'' (Petit de la Saussaye, 1850) * ''Placostylus cuniculinsulae'' Cox, 1872: synonym of ''

'' (Gaskoin, 1855) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus dorseyi'' Dall, 1910: synonym of '' Partula grisea'' Lesson, 1831 * ''Placostylus duplex'' (Gassies, 1871): synonym of ''Placostylus porphyrostomus porphyrostomus'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1853) * ''Placostylus dupuyi'' Kobelt, 1890: synonym of ''Placostylus eddystonensis bavayi'' (Crosse & Marie, 1868) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus falcicula'' (Gassies, 1871): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus fibratus'' (Martyn, 1784) * ''Placostylus founaki'' (Rousseau, 1854): synonym of '' Placocharis founaki'' (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1847) * ''Placostylus francoisi'' Mabille, 1895: synonym of ''

Poecilocharis bicolor ''Poecilocharis'' are a genus of very large, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae Bothriembryontidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mo ...

'' (Hartman, 1889) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus gizoensis'' Clench, 1941: synonym of ''

'' (Gaskoin, 1855) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus goulvainensis'' Kobelt, 1891: synonym of ''Placostylus porphyrostomus smithii'' Kobelt, 1891 (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus guestieri'' (Gassies, 1869): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus guestieri'' (Gassies, 1869) * ''Placostylus guppyi'' E. A. Smith, 1892: synonym of '' Placocharis guppyi'' (E. A. Smith, 1892) (original combination) * ''Placostylus hienguensis'' Crosse, 1871: synonym of '' Placostylus eddystonensis'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1855) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus houailouensis'' Dautzenberg, 1901: synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus alexander'' (Crosse, 1855) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus kanalensis'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1877): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus alexander'' (Crosse, 1855) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus layardi'' Kobelt, 1891: synonym of ''Placostylus bondeensis rossiteri'' (Brazier, 1881) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus leucolenus'' Crosse, 1896: synonym of '' Placostylus fibratus fibratus'' (Martyn, 1784) * ''Placostylus loyaltyensis'' (Souverbie, 1879): synonym of ''

Leucocharis loyaltyensis ''Leucocharis loyaltyensis'' was a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae. Distribution This species was endemic to New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of ...

'' (Souverbie, 1879) * ''Placostylus manni'' Clapp, 1923: synonym of '' Placocharis manni'' (Clapp, 1923) (basionym) * ''Placostylus mariei'' (Crosse & P. Fischer, 1867): synonym of Placostylus porphyrostomus mariei (Crosse & P. Fischer, 1867) * ''Placostylus miltocheilus'' Reeve, 1848: synonym of '' Aspastus miltocheilus'' (Reeve, 1848) * ''Placostylus ouveanus'' (Mousson, 1869): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus ouveanus'' (Mousson, 1869) * ''Placostylus palmarum'' (Mousson, 1869): synonym of '' Placocharis palmarum'' (Mousson, 1869) * ''Placostylus paravicinianus'' B. Rensch, 1934: synonym of '' Placocharis paravicinianus'' (B. Rensch, 1934) (original combination) * ''Placostylus pseudocaledonicus'' (Montrouzier in Crosse, 1859): synonym of '' Placostylus scarabus'' (Albers, 1854) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus pyrostomus'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1860): synonym of '' Santacharis salomonis'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1852) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus remotus'' Hedley, 1898: synonym of '' Partula remota'' (Hedley, 1898) (original combination) * ''Placostylus sanchristovalensis'' (Cox, 1870): synonym of '' Eumecostylus sanchristovalensis'' (Cox, 1870) * ''Placostylus savesi'' Crosse, 1886: synonym of ''Placostylus eddystonensis savesi'' Crosse, 1886 * ''Placostylus saxtoni'' Kobelt, 1891: synonym of '' Placostylus caledonicus'' (Petit, 1845) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus scottii'' (Cox, 1873): synonym of '' Eumecostylus scottii'' (Cox, 1873) * ''Placostylus seemanni'' (Dohrn, 1861): synonym of '' Euplacostylus seemanni'' (Dohrn, 1861) * ''Placostylus singularis'' (Morelet, 1857): synonym of ''Placostylus porphyrostomus porphyrostomus'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1853) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus sinistrorsa'' (Crosse, 1884): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus ouveanus'' (Mousson, 1869) (based on unavailable original name) * ''Placostylus smithii'' Kobelt, 1891: synonym of ''Placostylus porphyrostomus smithii'' Kobelt, 1891 (basionym) * ''Placostylus souvillei'' (Morelet, 1857): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus souvillei'' (Morelet, 1857) * ''Placostylus stutchburyi'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1860): synonym of '' Placocharis stutchburyi'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1860) * ''Placostylus superfasciatus'' (Gassies, 1871): synonym of ''Placostylus fibratus fibratus'' (Martyn, 1784) (junior synonym) * ''Placostylus unicus'' B. Rensch, 1934: synonym of '' Eumecostylus unicus'' (B. Rensch, 1934) (original combination)

References

External links

Fabrice M. Brescia, Christine M. Pöllabauer, Murray A. Potter & Alastair W. Robertson, A review of the ecology and conservation of Placostylus (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Bulimulidae) in New Caledonia; Molluscan Research 28(2): 111–122; ISSN 1323-5818
* Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979
Flax snail
on

Department of Conservation (New Zealand) The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand ...

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