Achatinellidae is a family of tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.
Taxonomy It was previously the only family in the superfamily Achatinelloidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). It is now classified under the superfamily Pupilloidea.
The family Achatinellidae represents a diverse adaptive radiation. All species of tree-snail in Hawaii are believed to have come from a single ancestral snail. How that ancestral snail made the trip across the ocean is unknown. A longstanding theory is that a bird carried a notably smaller ancestor across the ocean and dropped it on the islands, as bird mediated dispersal has been documented in other snail species. Alternative theories include that it floating across the ocean on a mat of debris, or that it island hopped across the Pacific in a combination of the theories.
Subfamilies in the family Achatinellidae include: Achatinellinae Gulick, 1873 - synonym: Helicterinae Pease, 1870 (inv.) Auriculellinae Odhner, 1921 Elasmatininae Iredale, 1937 tribe Elasmatinini Iredale, 1937 - synonyms: Strobilidae Zilch, 1959 (n.a.); Pitysinae Cooke & Kondo, 1961 tribe Antonellini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 tribe Tubuaiini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 Pacificellinae Steenberg, 1925 tribe Pacificellini Steenberg, 1925 - synonym: Tornatellinoptini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 tribe Lamellideini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 Tekoulininae Solem, 1972 Tornatellidinae Cooke & Kondo, 1961 tribe Tornatellidini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 tribe Tornatellariini Cooke & Kondo, 1961 Tornatellininae Sykes, 1900 tribe Tornatellinini Sykes, 1900 tribe Elasmiatini Kuroda & Habe, 1949
Anatomy In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 16 and 25 (according to the values in the table).Barker G. M. Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. In Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
Distribution This family of snails occurs widely in the Pacific islands. They are at their most diverse in the Hawaiian group.Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 Cooke, C. M. and Yoshio Kondo. 1960. Revision of Tornatellinidae and Achatinellidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata). Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 221. 303 pp.
Genera Genera in the family Achatinellidae include:
Achatinellinae Achatinella Swainson, 1828 - type genus of the subfamily Achatinellinae Partulina Pfeiffer, 1854 Perdicella Pease, 1870 Newcombia Pfeiffer, 1854
Auriculellinae Auriculella Pfeiffer, 1854 - type genus of the subfamily Auriculellinae
Elasmatininae tribe Elasmatinini tribe Antonellini tribe Tubuaiini Tubuaia
Pacificellinae tribe Pacificellini Tornatellinops Pilsbry & Cooke, 1915 tribe Lamellideini Lamellidea Pilsbry, 1910
Tekoulininae Tekoulina Solem, 1972
Tornatellidinae tribe Tornatellidini Tornatellides Pilsbry, 1910 - type genus of the tribe Tornatellidini tribe Tornatellariini Tornatellaria Pilsbry, 1910 - type genus of the tribe Tornatellariini
Tornatellininae tribe Tornatellinini Tornatellina L. Pfeiffer, 1842 - type genus the tribe Tornatellinini tribe Elasmiatini Elasmias Pilsbry, 1910 - type genus of the tribe Elasmiatini
unsorted Gulickia Cooke, 1915Cowie R. H. (1996). "Gulickia alexandri". 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 7 August 2007. † Hotumatua Kirch, Christensen & Steadman, 2009 - Hotumatua anakenana Kirch, Christensen & Steadman, 2009Kirch P. V., Christensen C. C. & Steadman D. W. (2009). "Subfossil Land Snails from Easter Island, Including Hotumatua anakenana, New Genus and Species (Pulmonata: Achatinellidae) 1". Pacific Science 63(1): 105-122. PDF. Tornatellinops Pilsbry, 1915 Tornelasmias Iredale, 1944
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