Kondo’s Libera Snail (Libera kondoi)

Kondo’s Libera Snail was described in 2018; it is known only from subfossil remains that were recovered from at least two areas on the island of Mo’orea in the Society Islands.

The shells are ‘extremely’ large for a member of its family, reaching a size of up to 0.97 cm in diameter.

Kondo’s Libera Snail is quite similar to Jacquinot’s Libera Snail (Libera jacquinoti (Pfeiffer)) in its large size, its overall shape and apertural barriers but can be distinguished from that species by having consistently much finer and more numerous riblets on the apical surface of the shell and by the absence of a strong basal sculpture. [1]

Like so many snail species endemic to Polynesia, also this one is now sadly extinct.

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References:

[1] C. C. Christensen; J. G. Kahn; P. V. Kirch: Nonmarine Mollusks from Archaeological Sites on Mo‘orea, Society Islands, French Polynesia, with Descriptions of Four New Species of Recently Extinct Land Snails (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Endodontidae). Pacific Science 72(1): 95-123. 2018

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edited: 17.02.2024