Laevaricella perlucens

Laevaricella perlucens is a species of tropical, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Oleacinidae.

Laevaricella perlucens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Oleacinidae
Genus:	Laevaricella
Species:	L. perlucens
Binomial name
Laevaricella perlucens (Guppy, 1868)[1]
Synonyms
Glandina perlucens Guppy, 1868

Distribution

Laevaricella perlucens is endemic to Dominica.^[2] The type locality is "on Morne Diablotin, the north end on the island", Dominica.^[1]

Laevaricella perlucens is very restricted in range^[2] and probably meet the IUCN-criteria of Critically Endangered species.^[2]

Description

Laevaricella perlucens was originally discovered and described (under the name Glandina perlucens) by British-born naturalist Robert John Lechmere Guppy in 1868.^[1]

Guppy's original text (the type description) reads in Latin language and in English language as follows:

Glandina perlucens, n. sp.

Testa subulate-turrita, laevis, diaphana, fusco-flavida, vix striatula, lineis distautibus ornata; apex obtusissimus; anfractus 7, parum convexi, lente accrescentes, ultimas applanatus, spirse longitudinem circiter sequans; sutura valde impressa; columella valde torta, truncata; peristoma simplex, margine externo aliquanto prominente.

Long, 16 millim., lat. maj. 4 millim.; apart, alt. 4, lat. 2.

A subulate-turreted, smooth, brilliantly polished, yellowish-red shell, marked by obscure striae and by distant variciform lines, of which there are from three to six on a whorl; with a very obtuse apex and seven slowly increasing, scarcely convex whorls, the last somewhat flattened and equal to about half the length of the shell; columella strongly curved, truncate; aperture oval, elongate; peristome simple, its external margin somewhat prominent.

A species allied to G. afrcuata., Pf., of Jamaica. Of three examples I obtained, one only was of full growth.

This species had never been collected since it was described by Guppy (1868)^[1] until 2009 and his type material was subsequently lost.^[2] The single specimen collected alive in 2009 allowed figure this species for the first time.^[2]

Ecology

This species is restricted to higher localities.^[2] It does not occur, however, on the upper slopes of the higher peaks, but it seems to be restricted to the hygrophytic vegetation zone (cloud forest).^[2]