Terrestrial molluscs of Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania, and its status as an " oceanic " island
Author
Rowson, B
Author
Warren, B. H.
Author
Ngereza, C. F.
text
ZooKeys
2010
70
1
39
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.70.762
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.70.762
1313-2970-70-1
17.
Allopeas gracile (Hutton, 1834)
Bulimus gracile
Hutton 1834
: 84, 93
Notes.
Pemba specimens reach a large size (13.5
x
3.4 mm, occasionally 15.0
x
3.5 mm, up to 8 whorls), always being relatively narrower than
Opeas lamoense
. The maximum size is substantially greater than given by most authors (e.g.
Gerlach 2006b
: 9.4 mm;
Griffiths and Florens 2006
: 13.5 mm). Said to be restricted to "waste places" by
Verdcourt (2000)
this species nonetheless occurs in some forest habitats (Table 2).
Allopeas gracile
is widespread in the tropics but its native range is uncertain.
Voeltzkow
(1923)
noted that "
Opea gracile johanninum
(Mor.)" (sic) was numerous in rotting logs on Pemba;
Haas (1929)
gives the record from Chake Chake.
Fischer-Piette and Vukadinovic (1974)
consider
Bulimus johanninus
Morelet, 1877, described from the Comoros, a synonym of
Allopeas gracile
. Recent authors (e.g.
Neubert 1998
,
Gerlach 2006b
,
Griffiths and Florens 2006
) rather than
Verdcourt (2006)
and
Rowson (2007)
are followed here in treating this species in
Allopeas
as distinct from
Lamellaxis
.