The aptly-named “Blubber-lipped Bulimulus” is, as its name suggests, characterised by a strongly thickened and often pitted lip that is almost black in colour when fresh and gradually fading to reddish. Endemic to a small area around Chachapoyas, northern Peru, it is restricted to isolated and inaccessible forests in tall mountain ranges over 2300 m above sea level. The first specimen known in the West was collected by Henry Lister Maw, a British naval lieutenant who travelled across northern Peru from 1827-1828 in an expedition down the Amazon River. Maw collected multiple specimens in Taulia, a town east of Chachapoyas, and had seen many more, but in the end only a single shell reached Europe. This specimen was studied by Broderip who described it, and then deposited in the Zoological Society of London. By late 1950s it has, however, mysteriously dissapeared from the collections and is now considered lost. Although it was highly sought-after among conchologists, very few specimens surfaced after that due to the difficulty in accessing its isolated habitat, both physically and politically. As such, it was considered to be one of the rarest landsnails for decades, despite being clear from early reports that it is common in its local habitat and even used as food by locals. Fortunately, supply of landsnails from northern Peru has surged in the recent few years, and at last this species has become available in some quantity along with other Peruvian orthalicids. Large specimens with well-formed lips are still rather difficult to secure, however. A herbivorous orthalicid landsnail living on and under trees, it feeds on lichens, algae, and various plant matter. Specimens vary little in the overall shell form, but do vary in the amount of spiral patterning and the development of the outer lip (thickness and amount of pitting), apparently different local populations tend to have varying levels of lip development. Typical shell length around 70 mm, very large specimens can exceed 90 mm. It was originally placed in genus Bulinus, today it is often offered under the genus Porphyrobaphe. Within the currently accepted placement in genus Sultana, it is placed in subgenus Metorthalicus. – adapted from Chong Chen’s post

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Sultana labeo – Beautiful pattern and nice quality!

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Sultana labeo – Beautiful pattern!

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Sultana labeo – Beautiful pattern!

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Sultana labeo – dark, superb!

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Sultana labeo – Nice!

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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form!

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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Nice pitted lip!

Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Nice pitted lip!

80.00
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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Nice pitted lip!

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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Very dark maroonish specimen!

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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Very dark specimen!

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Sultana labeo – overdeveloped lip form! Very thick lip!

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Sultana labeo – Superb!