The Fanulena imitatrix snail, an endemic species of Norfolk Island in Australia, is at high risk of extinction. After monitoring revealed a decline in living specimens, 30 individuals were transferred to a conservation center in Sydney, where the first offspring have already hatched.
With a shell coated in fine golden hairs and about the size of a pinky fingernail, the Fanulena imitatrix is a rare species that exists only in a small reserve on Norfolk Island. The discovery of a living population surprised Isabel Hyman, a mollusk specialist at the Australian Museum, who had begun to think the species was extinct. However, the survival of these animals remains threatened: their habitat is accessible to the public, lies beside a road, and in August 2025 invasive Argentine ants were detected nearby.
Monitoring conducted between August 2025 and May 2026 revealed a progressive decrease in the number of living snails and an increase in empty shells found, a possible sign of higher mortality. In light of these results, a team from the Australian Museum and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia collected 30 specimens in August 2026 and took them to Taronga Zoo in Sydney to begin an emergency breeding program. The aim is to create a population that can, in the future, be returned to Norfolk Island and bolster the wild population.
One month after arrival at the quarantine and breeding facilities, the snails adapted well to the new environment and began producing live offspring. The team remains, however, cautiously hopeful, since this is the first time the species has been kept in captivity and there is still much to learn about its biological needs. The project is also inspired by the work carried out with another island-endemic snail, Advena campbellii, whose captive-breeding enabled the release of specimens back into the wild this year.
Norfolk Island is considered an important hotspot for snail diversity, with around 60 unique species. These animals face several threats, including invasive ants, climate change, and predation by rodents and feral chickens. Although often associated with damage to gardens, native snails play an important role in ecosystems, notably in the decomposition of leaf litter. Isabel Hyman also notes that more extinctions of terrestrial snails have been recorded than for any other animal group, underscoring the importance of protecting lesser-known yet essential species for biodiversity.
