Systematic revision of the Plectopylinae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Plectopylidae)
Author
Páll-Gergely, Barna
31E196E9-5A51-4295-9A36-D5DA689502B7
Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), Herman Ottó Street 15, Budapest, H- 1022, Hungary.
pall-gergely.barna@agrar.mta.hu
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2018
2018-08-16
455
1
114
journal article
22297
10.5852/ejt.2018.455
44a2fcf6-cc1b-4c07-9554-dd6dd279a76d
3817707
C445E95B-446A-4601-AAA3-C1CCBAB627F9
Family
Plectopylidae
Möllendorff, 1898
Plectopylidae
Möllendorff, 1898: 147
.
Type
genus
Plectopylis
Benson, 1860
.
Diagnosis
Shell sinistral or dextral, small to very large (
5–35 mm
); flat, depressed-conical or conical; dorsal surface concave, flat (even in those cases the protoconch usually protrudes above surface), conical or domed; protoconch sculpture variable between genera (ribbed, wrinkled, reticulated, tuberculated); dorsal surface usually with reticulated structure (consisting of spiral and radial lines); ventral surface usually with less prominent sculpture; deciduous periostracal folds might be present on the periphery of body whorl; aperture oblique to shell axis; peristome expanded, sometimes reflected; parietal callus present, V- or slightly S-shaped, apertural fold present or absent; multiple armatures formed during growth, the last one 0.25–0.75 whorls behind aperture; parietal wall with one or two vertical lamellae, usually with additional horizontal plicae above and below the lamellae or anterior to them; palatal wall with 6–7 plicae, which are variable in morphology: straight and horizontal, depressed Z-shaped, sometimes divided in the middle (most often when there is a single parietal lamella), or the fourth and fifth fuse to each other, forming a vertical plate (most often where there are two parietal lamellae).
Ommatophoral retractor (in sinistral specimens the left, in dextral specimens the right retractor) runs between the penis and vagina; atrium short; penis very short, vestigial to well-developed, without verge, usually with parallel folds internally; calcareous crystals may be present between folds; epiphallus usually present, bound to penis by weak fibres; penial caecum short or absent, retractor muscle inserts on penial caecum or, if caecum is absent, at the penis-epiphallus transition; vas deferens long, usually thickened before entering spermoviduct; vagina well-developed, usually U-shaped, sometimes with thickened ‘vaginal bulb’ formed at turning point of ‘U’, attached to body wall with multiple, short muscle fibres; vagina internally with longitudinal folds; spermoviduct long; bursa copulatrix with slender stalk of variable length and usually an ovoid bursa; diverticulum usually present, short ovoid to very long, slender, usually originates near originating point of bursa copulatrix; all species ovoviviparous, embryo sac with several small calcareous crystals on its surface; talon normally developed, elongated, albumen gland of variable length.
Radula elongated, but not very slender; teeth arranged in rows; laterals in straight rows perpendicular to central column; marginals in anteriorly pointed, slightly oblique rows, central tooth with a single, small to medium-sized cusp (sometimes absent), which is smaller or larger than ectocones of first laterals, but always smaller than endocones of first laterals; first laterals with a large endocone and a small ectocone; transition between laterals and marginals is gradual with endocone being gradually divided into two cusps, ectocones usually remain undivided.
Distribution
The family
Plectopylidae
extends from the southern Himalayan region (
Nepal
and northeastern
India
) throughout
Myanmar
, the Malay Peninsula, southern and northern
Thailand
, northern
Laos
, northern
Vietnam
, central, southern and eastern
China
(
Yunnan
,
Sichuan
,
Guizhou
,
Chongqing
,
Hubei
,
Hunan
,
Guangxi
,
Guangdong
,
Jiangxi
,
Zhejiang
and
Fujian
Provinces) to
Taiwan
and southern
Japan
(Miyako Island) (
Fig. 3
).