Helix (Thalassia) traversi Smith, 1884

Pl. 7, fig. C

Smith, 1884. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, (1884): 274, pl. 23, figs. 16, 16a, 16b.

Type material: Syntypes (2), NHMUK 1884.6.12.644–645 (dry shell material) .

Label details: ‘ New Zealand, Challenger Coll.’

Type locality: Wairarapa, Wellington, New Zealand (Smith 1884: 274) .

Previous illustrations of type material: Smith (1884: pl. 23, figs. 16, 16a, 16b); Tryon (1886 [from Smith, 1884]: pl. 63, figs. 68–70).

Remarks: The type material was part of a small collection of New Zealand land snails that was presented to scientific staff of HMS Challenger by William Travers, when the ship was berthed at Wellington in 1874 (Smith 1884: 274).

Current Taxonomy: Listed as Therasia traversi (E.A. Smith, 1884) by Hedley & Suter (1893: 641), Suter (1913b: 661), Powell (1979: 317) and Spencer et al. (2009: 216), but preliminary results of a phylogenetic study (M. Kennedy & F. Brook unpub. data) indicate that the placement in Therasia Hutton, 1883 requires re-evaluation.

Distribution: New Zealand; North Island and northern South Island (Suter 1913b; Powell 1979).