ISSN 2755-3531
New taxa and distribution data of Clausiliidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) from southeastern China
András Hunyadi & Miklós Szekeres
Abstract. From the provinces Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan the following taxa are described as new: Grandinenia pallidissima ooharai subsp. nov., Synprosphyma aegrota sp. nov., S. basilissa ishibei subsp. nov., S. hosodai sp. nov., S. ookuboi sp. nov., S. pallgergelyi sp. nov., S. wanshinensis monachorum subsp. nov., Oospira minutissima sp. nov., O. ootayoshinarii sp. nov., O. truncatula sp. nov., Formosana abscedens sp. nov., Minatoia gen. nov. with type species M. inopinata sp. nov., Miraphaedusa gregoi sp. nov., Serriphaedusa (S.) ishibei sp. nov., S. (S.) ootanii sp. nov., S. (Nannophaedusa) diaphana sp. nov., S. (N.) fusiformis sp. nov., Bathyptychia aplostoma ookuboi subsp. nov., B. beresowskii eremita subsp. nov., B. martensi immersa subsp. nov., Selenophaedusa dentifera sp. nov., Phaedusa matejkoi ooharai subsp. nov., Euphaedusa (Papilliphaedusa) latens sp. nov., and E. (P.) sericea sp. nov. The taxonomic positions of some of the mentioned genera are discussed, and novel zoogeographical data of some little-known taxa are provided.
Key words. Clausiliidae, taxonomy, zoogeography, China
New taxa. Grandinenia pallidissima ooharai Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma aegrota Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma basilissa ishibei Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma hosodai Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma ookuboi Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma pallgergelyi Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Synprosphyma wanshinensis monachorum Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Oospira minutissima Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Oospira ootayoshinarii Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Oospira truncatula Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Formosana abscedens Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Minatoia Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Minatoia inopinata Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Miraphaedusa gregoi Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Serriphaedusa (Serriphaedusa) ishibei Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Serriphaedusa (Serriphaedusa) ootanii Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; S. (Nannophaedusa) diaphana Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; S. (N.) fusiformis Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Bathyptychia aplostoma ookuboi Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Bathyptychia beresowskii eremita Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Bathyptychia martensi immersa Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Selenophaedusa dentifera Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Phaedusa matejkoi ooharai Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Euphaedusa (Papilliphaedusa) latens Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016; Euphaedusa (Papilliphaedusa) sericea Hunyadi & Szekeres, 2016.
Date of publication. August 2016
A new species of Metula (Gastropda, Colubrariidae) from China seas
Shuqian Zhang, Junlong Zhang & Suping Zhang
Abstract. A new colubrariid species, Metula sulcata sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the East China Sea and South China Sea. The new species has small, bullet-like shell with four axial grooves on protoconch that distinguishes it from congeners.
Key words. Colubrariidae, Metula sulcata sp. nov., China seas
New taxon. Metula sulcata Zhang, Zhang & Zhang, 2016
Date of publication. August 2016
Trochoidea elegans in Surrey, England. When did it arrive?
Thomas M. Walker & Stuart Black
Abstract. The introduction of the snail Trochoidea elegans to one of its three known sites in Britain has been investigated. 210Pb dating suggests that it has been present at Chaldon, Surrey, at least since the first decade of the twentieth century; it may have been deliberately translocated to this site by the Rev. Canon J. W. Horsley.
Key words. Trochoidea elegans, introduction, Surrey, England
Date of publication. August 2016
Juan Francisco Araya, Matías Madrid & Abraham S. H. Breure
Abstract. The majority of the terrestrial molluscs of Chile have been scarcely studied, and several of them are only known from their original descriptions. In this work we present new records of the bulimulid land snail Bostryx hennahi (Gray, 1828), rediscovered in sand among Tillandsia communities (Tillandsiales) in northern Chile. This extant land snail is the northernmost terrestrial mollusc found in the country and the largest documented Chilean Bostryx species.
Key words. Bulimulidae, Atacama Desert, Lomas formations, Peru
Date of publication. August 2016
Barna Páll-Gergely, András Hunyadi, Jamen Uiriamu Otani & Takahiro Asami
Abstract. An impressive, large bodied, new camaenid species, Entadella entadiformis Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi n. sp. is described from several localities in Guangxi Province (Southern China). The new genus, Entadella Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi n. gen. includes three species: E. athrix (Möllendorff, 1901), E. cavaleriei (Bavay, 1913), and E. entadiformis n. sp., and characterized by a large, nearly flat, brownish shell with rounded body whorl, smooth or finely tuberculated embryonic whorls and a very or moderately narrow umbilicus. The penial verge is small or middle-sized with lateral opening, the penial caecum is absent, the flagellum is short, and the vagina is very short. In order to provide basis for comparison of Entadella n. gen. with the type species of the genus Camaena, the reproductive anatomy, shell and radula of a Camaena cicatricosa specimen, collected from Guangxi, China, is also described.
Key words. Anatomy, taxonomy, land snail, new species, new genus
New taxa. Entadella Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2016; Entadella entadiformis Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2016
Date of publication. August 2016
Shell polymorphisms in the bathyal Mediterranean top snail Clelandella myriamae Gofas, 2005
R. Sanfilippo, S. Giacobbe, A. Rosso, G. Battaglia, R. Paladino & A. Viola
Abstract. Differences in shell morphology in the gastropod Clelandella myriamae Gofas, 2005 were investigated. Observations on a total of 341 empty shells supplemented the original description and allowed the distinction of two morphotypes differing in shell size, shape and wall thickness. The existence of shell variations was also demonstrated by statistical morphometrics. Size-frequency distributions of major parameters are slightly bimodal, suggesting a disruptive selection, which tends to encourage the extreme shell forms. The achievement of larger sizes and the construction of thicker shells was interpreted as a capability of the species to withstand predatory attack, testified by several drills and scars on most shells. The occurrence of the species and the shell size variation were put in relation with other possible environmental causes such as food availability represented in the area by abundant decaying vegetal detritus. The record of C. myriamae from the epibathyal of the Gioia Basin is quite far from the first finding in the bathyal Eastern Mediterranean, thus extending bathymetrical and geographical range of the species.
Key words. Gastropoda, Trochidae, morphometry, morphotypes, Holocene
Date of publication. August 2016
Aleksandra Rysiewska, Dilian Georgiev, Artur Osikowski, Sebastian Hofman & Andrzej Falniowski
Abstract. The cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) partial sequences of all the nominal species of Belgrandiella Wagner, 1927, and Pontobelgrandiella Radoman, 1973 described so far from Bulgaria, collected from 16 populations, have been studied. The results rejected the occurrence of any representative of the genus Belgrandiella in Bulgaria since all the populations belonged to Pontobelgrandiella. 60 sequences have been studied, among them eleven COI haplotypes (haplotype diversity Hd = 0.870) have been identified. Divergence level has been small, with nucleotide diversity = 0.0078 and 14 variable sites. With an exception of one population, no intrapopulation polymorphism has been found. The haplotypes formed four clades, with low p-distances between them (0.7–1.5%). The clade I, represented by eight populations, all found in the Balkan Mountains, has been characterised by the highest divergence (five haplotypes, p = 0.6–1.2%, thus 3–6 point mutations). The clade II, with one haplotype, has been found at two localities distant one from another. The clade III with three haplotypes, and the clade IV with two haplotypes, have been found at small areas. The Principal Component Analysis of seven shell measurements showed some morphological distinctness of the representatives of the distinguished clades, although with some overlapping variability. The lack of polymorphism may reflect a founder effect, bottlenecks during subsequent local extinctions and/ or drastic reductions of population size, and may also be a result of strong selection. The genetic distances between the clades: 0.7–1.5%, would indicate the time of divergence from 0.38–0.43 Mya to 0.81–0.92 Mya. Thus the divergence took place in the Pleistocene, more precisely in Calabrian and Middle Pleistocene. It suggests that the adaptation of Pontobelgrandiella to troglobiont and stygobiont habitats was quite recent, and still incomplete. The results seem to follow the “climatic relict” model. The Pleistocene unstable climatic conditions might have promoted the adaptation of this snail to underground waters.
Key words. Balkans, troglobiont, stygobiont, Pleistocene, phylogeography
Date of publication. August 2016
A new large and common species of Doris (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) from the western Indian Ocean
Patricia Oristanio V. Lima, Yara Tibiriçá & Luiz Ricardo L. Simone
Abstract. A new species of cryptobranch dorid nudibranch is described from the Western Indian Ocean. Doris ananas sp. nov. has previously been recorded from South Africa to Tanzania. The studied specimens were from the sub-tropical waters of southern Mozambique, from 10 to 40m deep and are frequently associated with yellow sponges. The new species is characterized by having several conical simple small tubercles surrounding each large tubercle. The integument is yellow and the top of the tubercles are pigmented in brown or black. This species distinguishes from other described taxa on both external and internal characteristics explored herein, mainly in the reproductive system, with the presence of two bags with internal spines annexed to the vagina. This conformation is described for the first time for cryptobranchs.
Key words. Doris, dorid, nudibranchs, Mozambique, Western Indian Ocean
New taxon. Doris ananas Lima, Tibiriçá & Simone, 2016
Date of publication. August 2016
New species of micro snails from Laos (Pulmonata: Vertiginidae and Diapheridae)
Khamla Inkhavilay, Chirasak Sutcharit, Piyoros Tongkerd & Somsak Panha
Abstract. Five new species of minute vertiginid and diapherid snails, each with the characteristic apertural barriers for their genera (angular and parietal, collumellar and palatal), are described. Paraboysidia anguloobtusus n. sp. has a high conical shell, shouldered whorls with impressed sutures, and very fine spiral striae. The aperture contains seven robust barriers with distinct, blunt, angular lamella and a curved upper palatal plica. Paraboysidia paralella n. sp. has a high, ovate, embryonic shell with a very fine porous structure. The aperture contains five robust barriers, including angular and parietal lamellae located parallel to each other, a knob-like basal lamella and a short and thickened supracolumella tooth. Gyliotrachela plesiolopa n. sp. has a turbinated shell, embryonic whorls with a pitted, porous sculpture, sutures impressed and the final whorl ascends and expands to a trumpet shaped aperture. There are five major apertural barriers: angular, parietal, columellar, upper and lower palatal, plus six small additional plicae: two infraparietals, two interpalatals and two infrapalatals. Angustopila singuladentis n. sp. has a conical spire, suture depressed, embryonic with a porous sculpture, shell sculpture with fine spiral threads. The shell aperture contains one thick and strong parietal lamella. Sinoennea euryomphala n. sp. has a high pupa-shaped shell, aperture opened narrowly vertically and subcircular shaped. The shell aperture contains large and strong parietal-angular lamellae, bifurcation palatal and columellar lamellae. Umbilicus widely opened.
Key words. Limestone, taxonomy, Laos, Vertiginidae, Diapheridae
New taxa. Paraboysidia anguloobtusus Inkhavilay & Panha, 2016; Paraboysidia paralella Inkhavilay & Panha, 2016; Gyliotrachela plesiolopa Inkhavilay & Panha, 2016; Angustopila singuladentis Inkhavilay & Panha, 2016; Sinoennea euryomphala Inkhavilay & Panha, 2016
Date of publication. August 2016
Oren Kolodny & Israel Naaman
Abstract. Many untended water cisterns which had been in use until 68 years ago may be found throughout Israel. These cisterns constitute a unique ecological niche for a variety of organisms, providing a prime opportunity to explore the colonization of an artificial, little-studied ecological niche, over long periods of time. We actualized this approach by conducting a land snail survey in ten sites, and found colonization of cisterns by troglophilic species in six of them. We report for the first time the finding of live specimens of Calaxis hierosolymarum (Roth, 1855) in Israel, demonstrating the rare access to underground cavities provided by this study system.
Key words. colonization, artificial niches, water cisterns, land snails, troglophilic land snails
Date of publication. August 2016
Olaf Höltke & Michael W. Rasser
Abstract. Gastropods in the Obere Süßwassermolasse (“Upper Freshwater Molasse”) of Germany formerly referred to the genus Cepaea include five species: Palaeotachea dentula (MN 5), P. silvana (MN 5), P. renevieri (MN 5) as well as P. turonensis (MN 5/6), P. sylvestrina (MN 7-MN 9-?) and P. elevata (MN7). Their taxonomic status is discussed in this study. Palaeotachea sylvestrina and P. silvana can be differentiated morphologically using statistical methods. The previously recognized subspecies Palaeotachea sylvestrina sylvestrina (Schlotheim, 1820), P. sylvestrina gottschicki (Wenz, 1919) and P. sylvestrina geniculata (Sandberger, 1872) are no longer maintained in the species Palaeotachea sylvestrina (Schlotheim, 1820). Likewise, a subspecies P. silvana malleolata (Sandberger, 1875) is no longer recognized in the species Palaeotachea silvana (Klein, 1853). The taxon Palaeotachea renevieri elevata (Berz & Jooss, 1927) is elevated to species rank. The attempt to solve the proposed relationship of Palaeotachea turonensis with the Pliocene Frechenia and the Recent Eobania vermiculata using morphometric features brought no result.
Key words. Cepaea, Megalotachea, Palaeotachea, Obere Süßwassermolasse, silvana-beds, morphometrics
Date of publication. August 2016