Opisthostoma mirabile explained

Opisthostoma mirabile is a species of air-breathing land snail with an operculum, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Diplommatinidae.

Distribution

It is endemic to the Kinabatangan Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. It lives in Borneo.[1]

Its natural habitat is lowland Dipterocarp rainforest. Opisthostoma mirabile is endemic to one limestone outcrop near Suan Lamba known as 'Gomanton Hill'.[2] Subpopulations existed in two smaller limestone outcrops. This species is absent in surrounding non-calcareous regions, and therefore restricted to 1.5 km2 of limestone hills.

Threats

It is threatened by habitat loss- limestone quarrying has extirpated Opisthostoma mirabile from the two lesser outcrops, and fire near the outcrops has caused forest desiccation which has led to a decline in Prosobranch populations.

Notes and References

  1. Menno Schilthuizen (2003) Sexual selection on land snail shell ornamentation: a hypothesis that may explain shell diversity. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2003, 3:13
  2. Web site: Taxon Pages Opisthostoma and Plectostoma (Family Diplommatinidae). opisthostoma.myspecies.info. en. 2018-07-17.