A Field Guide to the Snails of Lord Howe Island

94 Family Helicarionidae (Glass snails and semislugs) Genus Parmellops Iredale, 1944 Shell. Size: H = 0.1-0.5 mm, D = 11.7-13.6 mm. Colour: Orange-gold to reddish. Shape: Reduced, plate-like; edges and internal whorls reduced to periostracum. Sculpture: Absent. Aperture, Umbilicus: N/A (shell plate-like). Animal. Body pale yellowish-brown to white, occasionally black, with either black and white pigmentation or grey colouring on tail. Shell lappets greatly extended and partially fused, leaving shell visible only through small slit; mantle lobes extended and fused to form cephalic shield over neck. Caudal horn small. Habitat and occurrence. Parmellops etheridgei is found in a few sites in the lowlands, and the slopes of Mt Lidgbird and Intermediate Hill, and P. perspicuus on the summit of Mt Gower. Both species are fully arboreal, and lay their eggs in the crutches of palm trees. Remarks. This genus is reasonably abundant where populations are known, but comparatively poorly represented in the collections of the Australian Museum due to its fragile shell and the resultant lack of dry specimens collected. Malabar Kim’s Lookout Transit Hill Intermediate Hill Mt Lidgbird Mt Gower ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ● P. etheridgei ● P. perspicuus