A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

64 Family Charopidae (Pinwheel Snails) Charopella zela Iredale, 1944 Mt Gower Banded Pinwheel Snail Shell. Size: H = 1.6-1.9 mm, D = 3 mm. Colour: Cream with dark orange- brown flammulations. Shape: Discoidal with a moderately raised spire; whorls shouldered with an angulate periphery. Sculpture: Protoconch with weak, nearly obsolete spiral sculpture; teleoconch with coarse, moderately closely spaced radial ribs. Aperture: Rounded, lunate. Umbilicus: Moderately widely open. Animal. Not known. Key distinguishing features. Small size, bicoloured shell, angulate shell periphery, moderately wide umbilicus, moderately closely spaced ribs. Habitat and occurrence. Only known from on or near the summit of Mt Gower and the upper slopes of Mt Lidgbird; never collected alive. Very rare. Remarks. This species has only ever been collected four times, most recently in 2002. Focused sampling of leaf litter on the southern mountain upper slopes and summits may recover more specimens of this elusive snail. Differs from congener C. wilkinsoni by its higher spired shell with a narrower umbilicus and wider, more coarse ribbing. Charopella wilkinsoni Charopella zela 1 mm