page_title: Oʻahu tree snail
section_title: Hawaiian folklore
hierarchical_section_title: Oʻahu tree snail / Hawaiian folklore
caption_attribution_description: English: Lei pupu kuhahiwi (Hawaiian land snail shells), Bailey House Museum
context_page_description: Oʻahu tree snails, genus Achatinella, form a large genus of colorful, tropical, tree-living, air-breathing, land snails, arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinellidae.
  This genus of tree snails is endemic to Hawaii, and all extant species are endangered. They were once abundant and were mentioned extensively in Hawaiian folklore and songs, and their shells were used in lei and other ornaments.
  Many of these arboreal snails are sinistral or left-handed in their spiral shell coiling, whereas most gastropod shells are dextral.
context_section_description: According to Ancient Hawaiian folklore, the Kāhuli snails are known as the pūpū kani oe, which translates to "shell that sounds long" or the "singing shell". They are believed to be able vocalize and sing at night. Experts have attributed this association to the chirping of crickets at night when the snails are active. Native Hawaiians used the shells of the snails to create kahuli shell lei and their status as coveted souvenirs in the 19th-century may have contributed to the decline of the species. The summer palace of King Kamehameha III was called Kaniakapupu ("the singing of the land shells") because of the many snails which once inhabited the area during his lifetime.
caption: A lei made out of Achatinella shells.
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