A new species of land snail (Stylommatophora: Partulidae) from Raiatea, French Polynesia, Oceania.

Abstract

A newly discovered land snail species, Partula meyeri n. sp., of the highly threatened South Pacific pulmonate gastropod family Partulidae, is described for Raiatea, one of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. This species is distinct from other members of its family by the morphology of its shell, which is thin and translucent, both characteristics similar to most members of the partulid genus Samoana. However, molecular data, to be published in a separate paper, show P. meyeri to belong to the genus Partula. Other distinguishing characters of the shell of P. meyeri are its relatively short, attenuate spire, correspondingly large body whorl, and- in combination with the other characters-its brown shade of coloration and expanded but thin peristome.