A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

122 Family Punctidae (Pinhead or Dot Snails) Charopinesta goweri Iredale, 1944 Mt Gower Pinhead Snail Shell. Size: H = 1.1 mm, D = 1.7 mm. Colour: Golden amber. Shape: Depressedly turbinate to discoidal with a low spire; sutures deeply impressed; whorl profile slightly rounded. Sculpture: Protoconch with spiral lirae; teleoconch with fine, closely spaced radial ribs. Aperture: Roundly lunate. Umbilicus: Moderately widely open. Animal. In ethanol, white with grey markings. Key distinguishing features. Minute size, flattened shape, fine, closely spaced ribs, moderately wide umbilicus. Habitat and occurrence. Known only from the Mt Gower summit and the mid-slopes of Mt Lidgbird, but probably inhabiting the mid to upper slopes of both southern mountains. Rare. Living arboreally in rainforest. Remarks. Very similar to Paralaoma innesi , with which it co-occurs.The type specimens of both species are illustrated here; more detailed revisionary work is required to determine whether these species are unique. Charopinesta sema Iredale, 1944 Blackburn Island Pinhead Snail Shell. Size: H = 1.1 mm, D = 1.8 mm. Colour: Pale golden. Shape: Depressedly turbinate with a low, stepped spire; sutures deeply impressed; whorl profile rounded. Sculpture: Protoconch with distinct spiral lirae at the lower edge, upper edge smooth; teleoconch with distinct, sinuate, moderately closely spaced radial ribs, with fine microradials between them; microspirals absent. Aperture: Roundly lunate. Umbilicus: Widely open. Animal. Not known. Key distinguishing features. Minute size, flattened shape, moderately spaced radial ribs on teleoconch, wide umbilicus. Habitat and occurrence. Blackburn Island and the lowlands. Extremely rare, possibly extinct.