Crikey steveirwini

Crikey steveirwini is a species of snail. Crikey steveirwini is the only species in the genus Crikey. In scientific terms the snail is a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc.

Etymology

The snail's scientific name, steveirwini, is named after Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin, who died from a stingray injury in 2006. The genus name Crikey, was a favourite interjection of Steve Irwin's. The snail species was named in 2009 by John Stanisic, a scientist at the Queensland Museum. Stanisic was later awarded Certified Environmental Practitioner of the Year 2010.

Habitat

Crikey steveirwini is an arboreal species, which means it's lives in trees. It lives in subalpine zone of the Wet Tropics of Queenlands. The Wet Tropics are a group of tropical rainforests in the Great Dividing Range, a mountainous region along the coast of north-east Queensland in Australia. It has been found at altitudes over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), which is unusual for Australian land snails. It has been said that because the snail's mountainous habitats will be among the first places to be affected by climate change, the snail could be useful for monitoring climate change.

Appearance

Photo of Crikey steveirwini's shell on website of Queensland Museum,.

The small rare snail can reach 15 millimetres (0.59 in) in size. It's shell has a long spire, and is creamy yellow with coppery brown spiral stripes.