Pupu Kani Oe Oahu Tree Snail
Kahuli Tree Snails Description: The Kahuli Snails are tiny mollusks. Their
closest relatives are other snails or slugs. The snail’s soft body has two parts; the foot and the head. The foot of the snail is for crawling and the head is where the tentacles, or stalk, attach, and these contain sensory organs. The head is also where the snail’s mouth is.
Size: Kahuli tree snails are very small; their shells are less
than an inch and when they are born they are less than half a centimeter long. Diet: Kahuli tree snails only eat fungus on the leaves of
trees and shrubs and spores on the leaf. Predators: The predators are rats, chameleons, and other
snails.
Habitats: Trees and shrubs Range: The tree snail are only found on the island of Oahu.
Life history and Reproduction: The Kahuli tree snail has a long
life; it can live over 10 years.
Conservation status:They are slow growing and slow to
reproduce. All of the 42 species in the genus are either endangered or extinct. Facts: The scientific name is: Achatinella
mustelina.
There were once many, but not anymore.
The kahuli tree snail produces live young. They only make one baby at a time. These snails live on one tree their whole lifetime.
Why animal is endangered.
1. People take their shells to make lei and other
accessories. 2. Rat and chameleon are the main predators of the snail. 3. Other predators are nonnative species. 4.They reproduce slowly ,one live baby at one time. What people can do to prevent them from being extinct.
1.People can stop making lei with the shells until the population rises to a plentiful state. 2. Create a similar manmade habitat that only the Kahuli tree snails can live in and let them free when its time.
3. Plant more trees and plants so the snail can eat. Work Cited
"Kahuli Tree Snail." National Wildlife Federation. Wildlife Library, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlifelibrary/invertebrates/kahulitreesnail.aspx>.
Matsumoto, Lisa. Beyond Ohia Valley Adventures in Hawaiian Rainforest. Honolulu, HI: Lehua Incorporated, 1996. Print.
Platt, John R. "U.S. Army Protects Critical Endangered Hawaiian Snails from Invasive Predators." Scientific American, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinctioncountdown/2012/02/15/armyprotectsend angeredhawaiiansnailsinvasivepredators/>.