Hadopyrgus ngataana

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)

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

Habitat

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 2013 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.[8]

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.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grainger, Natasha; Collier, Kevin; Hitchmough, Rod; Harding, Jon; Smith, Brian; Sutherland, Darin (May 2014). "Conservation status of New Zealand freshwater invertebrates, 2013" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series 8. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation. ISSN 2324-1713. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. ↑ Collier, K. "Hadopyrgus ngataana". www.iucnredlist.org. IUCN. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Miskelly, Colin (2016), "Legal protection of New Zealand's indigenous aquatic fauna–an historical review" (PDF), Tuhinga, 27: 84
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