They are relatively small snails, with shells measuring between 10-20mm.
It makes up an incredibly diverse genus made so by tiny geographical and hence locally mutative factors. Because of this the Partula genus has become a vital tool species in the study of genetics and may save the remaining populations of this tiny snail.

Studies of these snails was first fired by an amateur naturalist, John T. Gulick, the son of an American missionafy who worked in Hawaii. He published a series of works between 1872 and 1905. His conclusions caused a storm with the Darwinists and by the turn of the century, prompted Henry Edward Crampton to enter the fray and devote the remaining 50 years of his career to the study of Partula on Tahiti, Moorea and the surrounding islands. His work became one of the most important in the histofy of evolutionary biology.