ISSN 2755-3531
Zhe-Yu Chen, Yi-Feng Fang & Li-Wen Lin
Abstract. Diaphera bagua Z.-Y. Chen, sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Guangxi, China. The new species can be distinguished from Diaphera lini Z.-Y. Chen & Páll-Gergely, 2020, also known from Guangxi, by its glossy shell and closed umbilicus. Two known species, Sinoennea atomaria (Dautzenberg, 1894) from Vietnam and Sinoennea ziminae Yang et al., 2012 from Hubei, China, are reassigned to Diaphera based on shell morphology.
Key words. Asia, carnivorous snail, morphology, new taxa, taxonomy
Published 21 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4575
Richard C. Preece, Tom S. White & Edmund Gittenberger
Abstract. Syntypes of Helix castra W.H. Benson, 1852 in the William Benson collection at the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, are a mixture of two species. A lectotype is designated to fix the name and stabilise the nomenclature of this species, now the type species of Sivella W.T. Blanford, 1863 (Helicarionidae, Durgellinae). The lectotype and paralectotype, the only specimens in the type series to match Benson’s description, are illustrated.
Published 21 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4576
Three new species of Clausiliidae (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora) from Shaanxi Province, China
Dimitry M. Palatov, Jozef Grego & Miklós Szekeres
Abstract. Shaanxi Province is divided by the transition line between the vegetation zones of subtropical evergreen and temperate deciduous broadleaf forests, which sets a limit to northward expansion for members of the clausiliid subfamily Phaedusinae. Due to this constraint and a modest interest of malacologists only eight, mostly widespread clausiliid species have been recorded reliably from this province. Here we introduce Euphaedusa vitrea sp. nov., Streptodera chertoprudi sp. nov., and Streptodera qinlingensis sp. nov., which were found during a 2010 trip to the Qinling Mountains in southern Shaanxi. Intriguingly, the new Streptodera species are sinistral members of a genus that previously was considered monotypic and dextral. The three new, apparently narrow endemic species suggest a higher-than-expected diversity of clausiliids in the forested areas of southern Shaanxi.
Published 24 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4577
P. Graham Oliver
Abstract. Some bathyal Thyasiridae from the Faroe-Shetland Channel and Rockall Trough in the North-East Atlantic are described. Four new genera are introduced for species formerly included in Thyasira s.s. namely, Rhombaxinus gen. nov. with type species Cryptodon equalis A.E. Verrill & K.J. Bush, 1898, Thyasirella gen. nov. with type species Cryptodon obsoletus A.E. Verrill & K.J. Bush, 1898, Cryothyas gen nov. with type species Axinus flexuosa var. rotunda Jeffreys, 1881, and Odontothyas gen. nov. with type species Axinus succisa Jeffreys, 1876. The generic status of Mendicula is discussed and M. oblonga (Monterosato, 1880) is transferred to Adontorhina. Comparisons with related taxa from across the entire North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic Ocean are made. Four new species are described: two from the Rockall Trough, Rhombaxinus stellaris sp. nov. and Thyasirella rhamphos sp. nov.; one from east Greenland, Cryothyas milnelandensis sp. nov.; one from the abyssal Norwegian Sea, Mendicula atomus sp. nov. Cryothyas rotundus (Jeffreys, 1881) comb. nov. is recognized from type material discovered in The Natural History Museum (London) and is widespread throughout the Faroe-Shetland Channel from 800–1100 m and ranges from Newfoundland, west and east Greenland, Iceland, Jan Mayen, Svalbard, northern Norway, and into the Barents Sea. It is the earliest available name for all previous records of Thyasira dunbari Lubinsky, 1976, except for the type material of that species from the Canadian High Arctic, which is a separate species and retains its original name. A form of Thyasirella obsoleta (A.E. Verrill & K.J. Bush, 1898) is present at depths below 500 m in the Faroe-Shetland Channel but rarely overlaps with the range of Odontothyas succisa (Jeffreys, 1876) comb. nov. that was found predominantly around the shelf edge at 200–300m. Mendicula pygmaea (A.E. Verrill & K.J. Bush, 1898) was widespread in the Faroe-Shetland Channel at depths from 700 to 1200 m and was found to have a range that included the type locality of off Massachusetts north to Jan Mayen, Svalbard, northern Norway and the Barents Sea. Despite small variations, none are significant enough to warrant the recognition of new species. Mendicula pygmaea is compared with M. ockelmanni (Keuning & Schander, 2010), M. ferruginosa (Forbes, 1844), and two other small Arctic species, Axinulus careyi Bernard, 1979 and Thyasira ottoschmidti Gorbunov, 1946. Mendicula atomus sp. nov. is described from abyssal depths in the Norwegian Sea. A short discussion on thyasirid systematics concludes the paper.
Key words. Taxonomy, shell morphology, North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Bivalvia
Published 28 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4578
Xing-Xiao Wang & Shu-Qian Zhang
Abstract. Phalium flammiferum breviculum Tsi & Ma, 1980 has long been regarded as a subspecies of Phalium flammiferum (Röding, 1798) or sometimes treated as its synonym. In this study, integrative morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses of P. flammiferum breviculum Tsi & Ma, 1980 and P. flammiferum flammiferum (Röding, 1798) from Chinese waters demonstrate that they represent two distinct species. Morphologically, the two species differ primarily in discrete characters of shell sculpture, particularly in the number of spiral cords and varices. Geometric morphometric analyses and mapping of landmark configurations onto the phylogeny indicate that variation in shell outline is largely continuous and only weakly associated with phylogenetic relationships. Phylogenetic analyses reconstructed by Bayesian inference using concatenated mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (28S rRNA) genes and species delimitation analysis (ASAP) support the separation of the two species. Herein, we formally elevate Phalium flammiferum breviculum Tsi & Ma, 1980 to species rank.
Supplemental materials (https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4579s)
Key words. China Seas, Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass, Mollusca, species distinction
Published 29 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4579
Peter Tattersfield
Abstract. Two new species of operculate land snail, Thomeomaizania cathyae sp. nov. and Afroditropis delimai sp. nov., are described from the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. Both are very likely to be single-island endemics. Whether these species should be classified in the Maizaniidae or Cyclophoridae is uncertain pending further study. However, the structure of the operculum, which is distinctive and formed of at least three layers, the outermost comprising a series of tightly coiled spiral lamellae, would suggest that they most likely belong to the Cyclophoridae. Shells of the six operculate species currently known from the island, and details of their opercula, are illustrated. An identification key is provided. Records of three non-operculate terrestrial gastropod species are also given, raising the total number of terrestrial molluscs known from São Tomé from 59 to 64.
Key words. Afroditropis delimai, Thomeomaizania cathyae, operculum, Cyclophoridae, Maizaniidae, Gulf of Guinea islands, Africa
Published 31 July 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4580
New records of deepwater gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from fisheries bycatch in northern Chile
Juan Francisco Araya, Robert Schoeller & Juan Antonio Aliaga
Abstract. Our knowledge of deep-sea invertebrate biodiversity, particularly for molluscs in the southeastern Pacific, is still scant. Many deepwater molluscan species from off the Chilean coast are known exclusively from the bycatch of commercial fisheries, and many of them remain only known from their original descriptions. In this work, we present new geographical and bathymetric records for four rarely collected deepwater gastropod species—Aeneator castillai McLean & Andrade, 1982, Aeneator martae Araya, 2013, Calliotectum vernicosum Dall, 1890, and Maurea delli (McLean & Andrade, 1982)—collected as bycatch offshore of Arica, Caldera, and Huasco, all in northern Chile. Calliotectum vernicosum is reported for the first time from Chilean waters, and the new record represents the southernmost for this species, which previously was only known from Ecuador and Peru. Aeneator martae is reported for the first time from outside its type locality. The northern distributional ranges of A. castillai and M. delli are extended by approximately 320 km and 550 km, respectively, north of their previously known occurrences.
Key words. Range extension, Volutidae, Tudiclidae, deep sea
Published. 14 August 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4581
Rodrigo B. Salvador, Rafael M. Rosa, Marijn T. Roosen & Abraham S. H. Breure
Abstract. Recent revisions of Scolodontidae genera have split the genus Miradiscops H.B. Baker, 1925 in two: Miradiscops proper and the newly coined Mayadiscops Roosen, Salvador & Breure, 2025. Several species were removed from Miradiscops and assigned to other pre-existing scolodontid genera. However, three Brazilian species that had been previously classified in Miradiscops could not be assessed at that time: M. fruhstorferi (Boettger, 1889), M. sublenticularis (Boettger, 1889), and M. parana (F. Baker, 1914). They are, thus, revised here. “Miradiscops” fruhstorferi and “Miradiscops” sublenticularis, known only from their type locality in Greater Rio de Janeiro, are considered to represent juveniles of Streptartemon cookeanus (F. Baker, 1914), family Streptaxidae. As Boettger’s names have priority over Baker’s, and making use of the Principle of the First Reviser, the new classification Streptartemon fruhstorferi (Boettger, 1889) comb. nov. is proposed for the species. “Miradiscops” parana, on the other hand, presents a unique set of features that allows the description of a new genus to contain it, Paradiscops gen. nov., resulting in the new classification Paradiscops parana (F. Baker, 1914) comb. nov. Thus, the only actual Miradiscops species currently known from Brazil is M. brasiliensis (Thiele, 1927).
Key words. Amazon biome, Gastropoda, land snails, Streptaxidae
Published 15 August 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4582
Rodrigo B. Salvador, Ariel La Pasta, Rafael M. Rosa, Fernanda S. Silva, Tacielle F. Macabeu, Barbara M. Tomotani, Daniel C. Cavallari & Abraham S. H. Breure
Abstract. Orthalicoidea is a diverse Gondwanan clade, with over 2,000 species spread mainly throughout the Americas and with small branches living in Australia, New Zealand, and some other South Pacific islands, as well as a relict lineage in southern Africa. The latest phylogenetic study on this superfamily demonstrated that the family Megaspiridae was paraphyletic, with three separate branches, and that the family Orthalicidae remained unresolved as a polytomy. Here we present a new multi-marker molecular phylogenetic study of the Orthalicoidea, with greatly expanded sampling of Orthalicidae and the multiple branches of Megaspiridae, including the unique genus Auris Spix, 1827. Our results have many implications for the classification of the superfamily. Firstly, Megaspiridae is restricted to two genera (Megaspira Lea, 1836 and Callionepion Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1899) and four new families are described: Auriidae fam. nov. Salvador, La Pasta, Silva & Breure; Koridae fam. nov. Salvador, Cavallari & Breure; Orphaicidae fam. nov. Salvador, Rosa, Cavallari & Breure; and Paeniscutalidae fam. nov. Breure & Salvador. Thus, Orthalicoidea now contains 12 families, in a classification scheme that better reflects its diversity. In addition, the family Liguidae, previously considered synonymous with Orthalicidae, is here reestablished as subfamily Liguinae, sister to Orthalicinae. Furthermore, some changes in the taxonomy of genus- and species-level taxa are also proposed.
Key words. Land snails, molecular phylogenetics, Neotropics, Stylommatophora, taxonomy
Published 15 August 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4583
Paolo G. Albano, Yara Tibiriçá, Daniela C. de Abreu, Sarah K.C. Kallmeyer, Irene Olivé, Alvaro A. Vetina, Queri Hojuane, José C. Dumbo, Emile Ammann & Maria Vittoria Modica
Abstract. Natural history collections house records of the natural world that serve multiple purposes, from enabling taxonomic and biodiversity research to providing opportunities to reconstruct baselines and quantify change. Most collections occur in the Global North, but the highest biodiversity occurs in countries of the Global South. The few collections in the latter countries thus deserve special recognition and curation effort. Here, we describe the molluscan collection housed in the museum of the Estação de Biologia Marítima da Inhaca (EBMI) in southern Mozambique. EBMI was founded on Inhaca Island in 1951 and hosts a museum containing plants and animals mostly collected on the island since the station’s foundation. The molluscan collection—completely revised during our work—comprises 986 lots with 4574 specimens representing 395 species, plus a single lot of brachiopods (2 specimens) stored with the molluscs. Gastropods and bivalves are the most represented classes, with 661 (66.9%) and 317 (32.1%) lots, respectively, but few lots of Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Cephalopoda are also present. Importantly, most lots (613, 62.1%) have the date of collecting reported, with the median year of collecting being 1964, and 83% of samples were collected before 1974, making the collection a unique baseline to assess changes to molluscan assemblages on the island. All lots with locality data (446, 45.2%) come from Mozambique, and most (350, 35.5%) from Inhaca Island, but due to the history of the collection and the individuals who contributed samples, the lots without collecting data are deemed to come from Inhaca too. The syntypes of Lutraria inhacaensis Boshoff, 1965 (Bivalvia: Mactridae) were found in the EBMI collection. The type material of Chama ratoi Boshoff, 1965 (Bivalvia: Chamidae) and Tagelus cunhai Boshoff, 1965 (Bivalvia: Solecurtidae), originally reported from EBMI, were found in the Museu de História Natural de Maputo instead. The potential importance of the EBMI historical collection for studies on taxonomy, biodiversity, and sustainability is highlighted. It is a collection of regional importance and further curation and preservation is needed.
Key words. Natural history collections, taxonomy, type specimens, Mollusca, Bivalvia, Global South, south-eastern Africa
Published 27 August 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4584
Enrico Talenti, Elisabetta Lori & Simone Cianfanelli
Abstract. Paludinella sicana (Brugnone, 1876) is an intertidal assimineid gastropod living in the Mediterranean Sea and on the north-eastern Atlantic coast. The synonymy between Paludina granulum A. Villa & G.B. Villa, 1841 and Assiminea littorina var. sicana Brugnone, 1876 is here proposed; consequently, P. granulum takes precedence over A. littorina var. sicana and the correct name for the species, following the Principle of Priority, should be Paludinella granulum. As the specimen on which P. granulum was originally described has been destroyed, a neotype is designated. The neotype is a specimen identified by the Villa brothers, who sent it to Paulucci, and is now in the Paulucci malacological collection at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze (SMA).
Key words. Paludinella, neotype, nomenclature, Principle of Priority
Published 30 August 2026
DOI. https://doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4585
Shell shape predicts microhabitat use in a land-snail assemblage from the Atlantic Forest
Rafael Alves Esteves, Sonia Barbosa dos Santos & Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha
Abstract. Land-snail assemblages in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest remain poorly studied despite this biome’s exceptional biodiversity and high endemism. We investigated patterns of microhabitat use in a land-snail assemblage from the Sooretama Biological Reserve, southeastern Brazil, testing three predictions: (1) that more abundant species would occupy broader microhabitat ranges; (2) that species would show non-random associations with particular microhabitats; and (3) that species sharing the same microhabitat would exhibit convergent shell morphologies. We recorded 440 individuals from 30 species and 12 families across 24 standardised plots, assigning each individual to one of five microhabitat categories: ground, leaf litter, vegetation, tree trunk, and tree leaves. Species differed significantly in their distribution across microhabitat categories (G-test: G = 943.51, p < 0.0001), and 60% of species were significant indicators of a particular microhabitat (IndVal, p < 0.05). No significant relationship was detected between species abundance and standardised Levins’ niche breadth (Spearman: ρ = 0.251, p = 0.197), and Prediction 1 was not supported. Hierarchical cluster analysis resolved the assemblage into four groups corresponding to distinct microhabitat-use patterns, showing strong correspondence with shell shape: groups associated with arboreal and ground microhabitats were predominantly high spired (80–100%), while the group associated with leaf litter was predominantly low spired (80%). Shell shape differed significantly among microhabitat categories (Kruskal–Wallis test: H = 274.43, p < 0.0001), with leaf litter differing from all other microhabitats in post-hoc comparisons. Phylogenetically stratified PERMANOVA confirmed that microhabitat accounted for 83.8% of the variation in species composition after controlling for superfamily-level non-independence (F = 32.345, R² = 0.838, p = 0.001). Our results extend the bimodal shell-shape framework to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and provide a quantitative baseline for comparative studies of land-snail assemblages in this threatened biome.
Key words. Bimodal distribution, Gastropoda, microhabitat associations, shell morphology, Sooretama Biological Reserve
Published 3 September 2026