A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

87 Genus Gudeoconcha Iredale, 1944 Shell. Size: H 14.4-21.4 mm, D = 24.4-38.4 mm. Colour: Yellow-brown, sometimes with a greenish tint. Shape: Depressedly turbinate; whorl profile slightly angulate. Protoconch smooth; teleoconch sculptured with microscopic spiral grooves and strong radial growth lines. Aperture: Ovately lunate. Umbilicus: Closed by reflection of the columella. Animal. Yellow-brown to dark brown, with spots on the side of the tail and three dark bands on the neck. Caudal horn small; shell lappets narrow, finger-shaped. Habitat and occurrence. Found throughout the island, G. sophiae sophiae in the lowlands and G. sophiae magnifica on the southern mountain summits and upper slopes. Found in litter. Remarks. This genus contains four named subspecies, two of which are extinct and not included here. One, G. sophiae intermedia , was described as a subfossil species from calcarenite deposits dating from the Pleistocene. The second, G. sophiae conica , was described from Blackburn Island, where it was last collected around 1912. It differs from the other subspecies in shell shape, being smaller and more conical with a higher spire, but is only known from empty shells. Malabar Kim’s Lookout Transit Hill Intermediate Hill Mt Lidgbird Mt Gower ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ● G. sophiae sophiae ● G. sophiae magnifica