Towards a Systematic Revision of the Eastern Australian Land Snail Austrochloritis Pilsbry, 1891 (Eupulmonata, Camaenidae): Re-description of its Type Species, A. porteri (Cox, 1866)
Author
Shea, Michael
Author
Köhler, Frank
text
Records of the Australian Museum
2019
2019-07-24
71
4
111
120
journal article
51917
10.3853/j.2201-4349.71.2019.1699
db896885-a225-4527-9149-6026a691f126
2201-4349
4653272
BC469398-0572-492D-A29F-37F5BFF9199C
Family
Camaenidae Pilsbry, 1895
Genus
Austrochloritis
Pilsbry, 1891
(
type
species:
Helix porteri
Cox, 1866
, by original designation).
Austrochloritis
Pilsbry, 1891
(in
Pilsbry,
1890
–1891): 262–263; Pilsbry, 1894 (in
Pilsbry,
1893
–1895): 121–122, pl. 28, figs 1–2;
Gude, 1906: 114–115
;
Iredale, 1938: 93–95
,
1943: 64–65
;
Solem, 1979: 120–125
,
Smith, 1992: 116–118
;
Stanisic
et al
., 2010: 378–392
, 535–537,
Stanisic
et al
. 2018: 258
, 557.
Taxonomic history
Originally described as infrageneric taxon in
Chloritis
,
Austrochloritis
was elevated to full genus rank by
Iredale (1938)
. Next to the
type
species,
A. porteri
(Cox, 1866)
, Pilsbry’s (1891) original definition of
Austrochloritis
included several eastern Australian species, such as
Helix spinei
Cox, 1868
(now
Mussonena spinei
),
H. mansueta
Reeve, 1854
(now
Moretonistes mansueta
),
H. blackalli
Brazier, 1875
(now
Gloreugenia blackalli
),
H. buxtoni
Brazier, 1880
(now
Patrubella buxtoni
),
H. brevipila
Pfeiffer, 1849
(now
Austrochloritis brevipila
),
H. aridorum
Cox, 1866
(now
Neveritis aridorum
) as well as two species from New
Guinea
(refer to
Stanisic
et al
., 2010
for the currently accepted taxonomy of eastern Australian
Camaenidae
). Subsequently,
Gude (1906)
,
Iredale (1938
,
1943
) and
Stanisic
et al
. (2010)
described additional species.
Iredale (1938)
and
Stanisic
et al
. (2010)
also transferred several species to other genera.
Solem (1979)
misidentified a then undescribed species of
Austrochloritis
as
Chloritobadistes victoriae
(Cox, 1868)
and, based on this misidentification, considered
Chloritobadistes
Iredale, 1933
as a synonym of
Austrochloritis
. Rectifying this mistake,
Stanisic
et al
. (2010
,
2018
) removed
Chloritobadistes
from the synonymy of
Austrochloritis
and described the mistaken and up till then unnamed species as
A. beecheyi
Shea & Griffiths, 2018
. According to the latest taxonomic treatment of
Stanisic
et al
. (2010
,
2018
), the genus comprises 34 currently accepted species. We agree with the
Stanisic
et al
. (2010)
treatment of
Chloritobadistes
as an available name in accordance with Art. 13.3 of the Code (
ICZN 1999
), because the original description of
Iredale (1933: 49
, 58) contains, although a very brief, diagnosis (“In shell features it agrees with the shells of “
Badistes
” =
Meridolum
ante, but bears hairs. It has a smooth apex…”) as well as a
type
species designation.
Diagnosis
Shell
. Small to large in size (D =
14–24 mm
), subdiscoidal, subglobose, turbinate or trochoidal with almost flat to moderately elevated spire (H =
4–15 mm
), whorls rounded, shouldered, subangulate or keeled, sutures moderately to strongly impressed; umbilicus from moderately open to partially closed, with V-shaped profile; protoconch sculpture of dense to scattered pustulose radial ridges; teleoconch sculpture smooth or with regular radial corrugations and overlying low rounded pustules that support periostracal setae, interstitial microsculpture of fine wavy periostracal ridgelets; lip unreflected to strongly reflected, usually with a distinct sulcus and associated swelling behind; body whorl slightly to strongly descending below whorl plane; lip white to dark reddish brown; colour pale yellow-brown to dark redbrown, with or without a single narrow spiral colour band at mid-whorl, rarely with umbilical colour patch.
External anatomy
. Animal dark grey or black to orangebrown; retractable head wart near inner bases of ocular tentacles present, varying in size.
Reproductive anatomy
. Penis with or without a penial sheath, internally with vergic papilla that may have a very elongated to short conical or blunt tip, open laterally and apically, or have one lobe fastened to the penis wall and another free lobe; inner penial wall supporting irregular longitudinal interlocking ridges and pustulations of various lengths; penial retractor muscle inserting near mid-epiphallus; epiphallus rather long with or without very short to rather long finger-like caecum; vas deferens entering head of epiphallus through simple pore; vagina with prominent longitudinal anastomosing pilasters, usually thickened around entrance decreasing in prominence apically; bursa copulatrix moderately long (equal to length of oviduct) to very long (longer than oviduct), with multi-folded or looped shaft (twice as long as oviduct, or longer), with oval shaped head, aligned against terminal end of spermoviduct; free oviduct short; hermaphroditic duct inserting into head of talon.
Comparative remarks
Austrochloritis
is distinguished from other eastern Australian camaenids by the combination of pale to dark brown discoidal to turbinate to trochoidal shell with pustulose radial wrinkles on protoconch, closely spaced curved to straight to strap-like pointed periostracal setae on teleoconch and typical reproductive characters, such as a rather long bursa copulatrix with multi-folded or looped shaft and oval shaped head, aligned against terminal end of spermoviduct, a long epiphallus, usually with caecum, and a free vergic papilla of the penis.
Distribution
From SE
Victoria
(
Wilson’s Promontory
and
Mt Donna Buang
) to SE
Queensland
(
Mt Tamborine
).
Mainly
coastal and sub-coastal, but ranging as far west as
Warrumbungle Range
in central
New South Wales
; from near sea level to altitudes of up to c.
1,700 m
in the
Snowy Mountains
.