Helicarion mastersi is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of air-breathing land snail

Land snail

A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

, also referred to as a semi-slug

Semi-slug

Semi-slugs, also spelled semislugs, are land gastropods whose shells are too small for them to retract into, but the shell is not quite vestigial...

 because of its small shell. It is a terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicarionidae

Helicarionidae

Helicarionidae is a family of air-breathing land snails or semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicarionoidea.- Distribution :...

.

The specific name mastersi is in honor of the Australian malacologist George Masters (1837-1912), who collected the type specimen.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

• Helicarion mastersi callidus Iredale, 1941
• Helicarion mastersi mastersi (Cox, 1868)

Distribution

This species is found in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia.

The type locality is Kiama, New South Wales

Kiama, New South Wales

-Transport:The town is served by Kiama Station on the South Coast Line. It is served by road in the form of the Princes Highway and the Kiama Bypass.-Attractions:...

, Australia.

Description

Helicarion mastersi was originally described (under the name Vitrina mastersi) by James Charles Cox

James Charles Cox

James Charles Cox was an Australian physician and conchologist.Cox was born at Mulgoa, southwest of Sydney where he played with Aboriginal children and leared from them about native birds and animals. He was educated at the local parish school and the King's School, Parramatta...

 in 1868. Cox's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

Ecology

This semislug lives in closed Eucalyptus forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s. It is primarily an arboreal

Arboreal locomotion

Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In every habitat in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may only scale trees occasionally, while others are exclusively arboreal. These habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals...

 species, but it can also be found in leaf litter.

External links

• "Species Helicarion mastersi (Cox, 1868)". Australian Faunal Directory, accessed 18 September 2011.