A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

109 Melloconcha grata Iredale, 1944 Angulate Glass-Snail Shell. Size: H = 4.5 mm, D = 6.6 mm. Colour: Golden brown. Shape: Trochoidal with an elevated spire; whorls flattened above and rounded below an angulate periphery; sutures weakly impressed. Sculpture: Shell smooth and glossy with radial growth lines and fine, incised spiral grooves. Aperture: Ovately lunate; width greater than height. Umbilicus: Closed. Animal. Not known. Key distinguishing features. Trochoidal shape with a high spire and more angulate periphery than its congeners. Habitat and occurrence. From the Mt Gower summit and possibly also the Mt Gower slopes. Very rare, possibly extinct. Likely to be arboreal. Remarks. This very rare and poorly known species has some question over its identity. It bears a very strong similarity to Innesoconcha aberrans (from Mt Lidgbird), differing only in its slightly lower spire and more smooth and glossy shell, and it is possible that it should be considered a synonym of this species. However, so few specimens are available that this is difficult to confirm. Melloconcha grata should be considered at grave risk of extinction. Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower. Image I. Burghardt.