Sinployea karangahake
Sinployea karangahake was named in 2025 by Frank Climo, Karin Mahlfeld and David Roscoe, in their revision of the genus Sinployea. It belongs to the Charopidae: mostly tiny, finely ribbed snails of forest litter, and the largest family of New Zealand land snails.
| Family | Charopidae |
| Authority | Climo, Mahlfeld & Roscoe, 2025 |
| Threat status | Proposed in 2025, see Conservation below |
| Shell | Shell small, thin, and fragile, 2.4 mm wide and 1.28 mm high at 3.1 whorls, moderately finely ribbed, loosely coiled, narrowly umbilicate, spire weakly elevated. |
Distribution
Coromandel Peninsula and eastern Bay of Plenty.
Habitat
Subtropical coastal mixed broadleaf forest-shrubland.
The name
After Karangahake Gorge, Coromandel Peninsula, northern North Island.
Conservation
Sinployea karangahake is known from Coromandel Peninsula and south of Opotiki, Bay of Plenty. It has not been recollected since the 1980s. The 2010 NZTCS assessment ranked this species ‘At Risk: Naturally Uncommon’, with the qualifier ‘Biologically Sparse’. We suggest adding the qualifiers ‘Data Poor: Size and Trend’ because of the considerable time that has elapsed since the species was last found. Dune or midden surveys could also help to determine whether the distributional range has contracted since human occupation. If so, a change to ‘At Risk: Relict’ would be required.
Sources
- Described in: Mahlfeld, K., Climo, F. & Roscoe, D. (2025). Systematics, conservation status, and biogeography of 16 new species of Sinployea Solem, 1983 (Gastropoda: Charopidae) from New Zealand. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204(1). Publication details
- Treatment on Plazi (CC0). Distribution, habitat, name and conservation text are quoted from it.
This record was compiled from published, public data. A full factsheet for this species has not been written yet.