Nineteen new species of Alycaeidae from Myanmar and Thailand (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoroidea)
Author
Páll-Gergely, Barna
Author
Hunyadi, András
0000-0003-3488-2817
hunand@freemail.hu
Author
Grego, Jozef
0000-0002-4977-0415
jozef.grego@gmail.com
Author
Reischütz, Alexander
0000-0002-8844-7004
alexander.reischuetz@gmx.at
Author
Auffenberg, Kurt
0000-0001-9660-6776
kurtauffenberg@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-05-18
4973
1
1
61
journal article
6241
10.11646/zootaxa.4973.1.1
d0967b08-98d1-4ccd-b472-a678e0e57eda
1175-5326
4771958
42EB4BF2-A571-4894-9EEF-783649A27E4F
Dicharax
(?)
gnomus
Páll-Gergely
n. sp.
Fig. 22
Material examined.
Holotype
:
Thailand
,
Phrae Province
,
4 km
N of
Ban Nim Rin
, valley with limestone ridges,
18°10.133’N
,
99°56.233’E
,
200 m
a.s.l.
,
16 May 1988
,
F.G. Thompson
leg., leaf litter at base of boulders,
UF
380401 (D:
1.65 mm
, H:
1.15 mm
).
FIGURE 22.
Dicharax
(?)
gnomus
Páll-Gergely
,
n. sp.
, holotype (UF 380401).
Etymology.
The specific epithet
gnomus
(Medieval Latin for gnome) refers to the tiny shell that has unusual shell area ratios compared to most other species (to be used as a noun in apposition).
Diagnosis.
Tiny
Dicharax
species
with wide, flat R1 ribs and fine spiral striation, short R2 with flat ribs, strongly reduced R3, and circular aperture.
Description.
Shell light grey, slightly semi-translucent; shell outline rounded in dorsal view; spire slightly elevated, body whorl rounded; protoconch low, finely granular, glossy, 1.5 whorls; R1 of 1.25 whorls, beginning with low ribs that appear curved anteriorly, developing into wide, flattened ribs separated by grooves, forming a smoothish, glossy surface; first whorl of R1 with some fine spiral striation; boundary between R1 and R2 not conspicuous due to similar rib morphology, although ribs become denser, ca. 30 R2 ribs present; R2+R3 less than quarter whorl (ca. 70–80˚); R3 considerably shorter than R2; boundary between R2 and R3 distinct due to sculpture change and rather deep constriction; R3 strongly reduced, represented only as a slight swelling just behind peristome; aperture almost parallel with shell axis, circular, round; peristome weak, very slightly thickened; boundary between inner and outer peristomes barely discernible; inner peristome weak, somewhat protruding and very slightly expanded, outer peristome very weakly developed, only indicated; umbilicus relatively narrow, less than one third of shell width.
Measurements.
D:
1.65 mm
, H:
1.15 mm
.
Operculum.
Unknown.
Differential diagnosis.
The R3 region practically absent in this species. No other low-spired alycaeid species has this trait in
Thailand
or
Myanmar
. The
Dicharax
species
described as
Awalycaeus
Kuroda,
1951
in
Japan
also have a strongly reduced R3, but we consider this is a case of convergent evolution.
Distribution.
This new species is known only from the
type
locality (
Fig. 17
).
Remarks.
This species has unusual conchological characters, and therefore, its generic placement is unclear. The spiral striation on R1 and the lack of spiral striation on the protoconch suggests a relationship to
Chamalycaeus
, whereas the glossy shell surface, the flattened R2 ribs, and the low protoconch indicate a position in
Dicharax
. This study revealed other
Dicharax
species
/populations that possess some spiral striae on R1 (see under
Dicharax admirandus
,
n. sp.
and
D. omissus
and Páll-Gergely
et al
. 2017). Thus, the placement of this species in
Dicharax
is justified.