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Endangered species of the month

Slender Samoana Tree Snail

Some facts about this species:

Habitat: Terrestrial. The snail has a preference for higher branches in trees and often drier ridges. However, it is also found in at least one wet valley of Tahiti.

Distribution: Endemic to French Polynesia, where the population is severely fragmented. Extant on Tahiti, Moorea and Raiatea, Society Islands. The species was one of few species of Partulids which was native in Bora Bora, where it is now extinct.

Threats: The carnivorous snail Euglandina rosea (introduced in the late 1980s) remains the principal threat.

Surviving number: Approximately 100 mature individuals, and decreasing.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1).

First described: As Partula attenuata by William Harper Pease in Tryon, G.W. & Pilsbry, H.A. (1909) Manual of Conchology, Volume 20. Caecilioides, Clessula and Partulidae. Index to vols. XVI–XX. (2)20: 165, 263.