Mitchell's rainforest snail

The snail used to be commonly found in rainforests and swampy parts of northern coastal lowlands and prefers palms and fig trees within rainforests. It also used to be found throughout coastal floodplain wetlands, coastal swamp forests, eastern riverine forests, littoral rainforests, northern warm temperate rainforests, and subtropical rainforests.

Unfortunately, Thersites mitchellae is on the endangered species list due to numerous threats. These threats include, but are not limited to animals that have been introduced to the snail’s small habitat such as rats and birds. Other major threats consist of the use of herbicides and pesticides, fires, weed invasion, and is also largely tied to deforestation. This critically endangered snail is now largely restricted to a range of less than 5 km² of remnant lowland rainforest, scattered around the Tweed, Byron and Ballina Shires of northern New South Wales. A significant population can still be found on the Stotts Island Nature Reserve on the Tweed River. Scientists believe that less than 500 mature individuals remain in the wild.