Wonderful Carelia Snail (Carelia mirabilis)

The Wonderful Carelia Snail was described in 1931 on the basis of 17 subfossil specimens, of which only a single one, apparently a juvenile one, was at least nearly complete; they were recovered from a limestone cliff near the Maha’ulepu beach in the south-east of Kaua’i, Hawaiian Islands.

The shells must have reached heights of about 4.5 to 4.8 cm. [1]

This species, being restricted to the lowland, very likely disappeared shortly after the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers.

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References:  

[1] C. Montague Cooke Jr.: The land snail genus Carelia. Bishop Museum Bulletin 85: 1-97. 1931

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edited: 24.01.2024