Hadopyrgus ngataana

Hadopyrgus ngataana is a tiny, transparent, and critically endangered freshwater snail, found only in a single stream in a cave in New Zealand.

Hadopyrgus ngataana

Nationally Critical (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Tateidae
Genus: Hadopyrgus
Species:
H. ngataana
Binomial name
Hadopyrgus ngataana
Haase, 2008[2]
Synonyms
  • Hydrobiidae sp. 33 (M.174154)

Habitat
Maitai Cave

This snail has only been found in one spot: in one pool, in a stream at the entrance of Maitai Cave, in the Maitai River Valley southeast of Nelson. It is one of a group of very small, blind, transparent freshwater snails found in caves or underground streams,[3] especially in Northwest Nelson, and like many of these species has evolved in just one small area.[4]

Taxonomy

The tiny (1.7 x 1.2 mm)[5] snail was discovered by Frank Climo in the 1970s, but was considered to be just one form of another subterranean Hadopyrgus snail found in the Nelson area.[3][6] In 2001 Martin Haase and Christina Mosimann collected more specimens from Maitai Cave by washing and sieving gravel, and using both morphological and genetic evidence realised these belonged to a distinct species.[7] They scientifically described and named it Hadopyrgus ngataana in 2008;[2] the name they chose, ngataana, comes from the Māori words ngata (snail or slug) and ana (cave).[6]

Conservation status

In November 2018 the Department of Conservation classified H. ngataana as Nationally Critical, using the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[1] The species meets the Nationally Critical criteria because it is found in just one location, and occupies a total area of less than 1 hectare.[1] Because Maitai Cave is a popular recreational area, and the stream the species has evolved in is so small, the population of this critically endangered snail is expected to decline.[1]

While it is possible for freshwater invertebrates to be legally protected under the Wildlife Amendment Act 1980, neither H. ngataana nor any other New Zealand freshwater invertebrate has been protected.[8]

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References
  1. Grainger, N.; Harding, J.; Drinan, T.; Collier, K.; Smith, B.; Death, R.; Makan, T.; Rolfe, J. (November 2018). "Conservation status of New Zealand freshwater invertebrates, 2018" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 28: 1–29 – via Department of Conservation.
  2. Haase, Martin (2008). "The radiation of hydrobiid gastropods in New Zealand: A revision including the description of new species based on morphology and mtDNA sequence information". Systematics and Biodiversity. 6 (1): 99–159. doi:10.1017/S1477200007002630.
  3. Climo, F. M. (1974). "Description and affinities of the subterranean molluscan fauna of New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 1 (3): 247–284. doi:10.1080/03014223.1974.9517834. ISSN 0301-4223.
  4. Collier, Kevin (28 February 2007). "Revealing the diversity of New Zealand hydrobiid snails". NIWA. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  5. "Hadopyrgus ngataana Haase, 2008". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  6. Arnold, Naomi (11 December 2015). "New Zealand's loneliest snail that calls Nelson's Maitai Caves home". Nelson Mail. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. "Object: Freshwater snail, Hadopyrgus ngataana Haase, 2008; holotype | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
  8. Miskelly, Colin (2016), "Legal protection of New Zealand's indigenous aquatic fauna–an historical review" (PDF), Tuhinga, 27: 84
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