Palaina embra

Palaina embra, also known as the mountain-top staircase snail, is a species of staircase snail that is endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea.

Palaina embra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:	Cyclophoroidea
Family:	Diplommatinidae
Genus:	Palaina
Species:	P. embra
Binomial name
Palaina embra Iredale, 1944[1]
Location of Lord Howe Island

Description

The pupiform shell of adult snails is 3 mm in height, with a diameter of 1.8 mm. It is white in colour, with golden-brown apical whorls and impressed sutures. It has strong, widely spaced, axal ribs. The umbilicus is closed. The circular aperture has a weakly reflected lip and an operculum is present.^[2]

Habitat

The snail is most common in the southern mountains of the island.^[2]