A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

71 Gyropena verans Iredale, 1944 Sunken-spired Pinwheel snail Shell. Size: H = 1.3-1.5 mm, D = 2.7-2.9 mm. Colour: Pale fawn with irregular brown flammulations. Shape: Discoidal with a sunken spire; whorls shouldered, last whorl flared; sutures impressed; adult shell of around 4.5 whorls. Sculpture: Protoconch smooth, with very faint spirals near teleoconch boundary; teleoconch with prominent, closely spaced radial ribs, sinuate on last whorl. Aperture: Roundly lunate. Umbilicus: Widely open. Animal. Not known. Key distinguishing features. Small size, discoidal shell with a sunken spire, closely spaced ribs, wide umbilicus; irregularly flammulated shell; low whorl count. Habitat and occurrence. On the southern end of the island, on the slopes and summits of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird, living in leaf litter. Very rare. Remarks. Sympatric with congener G. minuta throughout its range. Malabar Kim’s Lookout Transit Hill Intermediate Hill Mt Lidgbird Mt Gower ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ● G. minuta ● G. verans ● ● ● ●●●●●●● Gyropena verans 1 mm