Systematic revision of the limestone karst-restricted land snail genus Aenigmatoconcha (Eupulmonata: Helicarionidae), with description of a new species
Author
Pholyotha, Arthit
6CC9B5FE-6586-4132-8289-102DC14D3844
Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
arthitpolyotha@gmail.com
Author
Sutcharit, Chirasak
ED1BD3A8-0B41-4062-A575-EEAC278A9D00
Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
jirasak4@yahoo.com
Author
Tongkerd, Piyoros
18575FA7-4812-4D75-8568-24D9E7D90BC6
Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
piyorose@hotmail.com
Author
Panha, Somsak
AC935098-D901-4F35-A414-4B0D4FE44E79
Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Bangkok 10300, Thailand.
somsak.pan@chula.ac.th
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2021
2021-09-10
767
55
82
http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.767.1487
journal article
4208
10.5852/ejt.2021.767.1487
9e3374a3-73e0-4609-a80d-0de905904a37
2118-9773
5528134
A875DB79-C0E1-4C79-A9D0-87CE1464503A
Aenigmatoconcha clivicola
Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan, 2017
Figs 1
,
2A
,
4A–B
,
5
,
10A
Aenigmatoconcha clivicola
Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan, 2017: 184–187
, figs 2–5.
Type
locality: Phu Pha Lom Limestone Hill in Mueang District,
Loei Province
, northeastern
Thailand
.
Aenigmatoconcha clivicola
– Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan 2018: 171.
Material examined
THAILAND
•
39 sh
,
22 sp
;
Loei Province
,
Mueang District
,
Phu Pha Lom Limestone Hill
;
17°33′16.6″ N
,
101°52′05.4″ E
;
CUMZ 7928
•
6 sh
,
12 sp
; same collection data as for preceding;
CUMZ 7929
•
48 sh
;
Loei Province
,
Na Duang District
,
Limestone outcrops at Wat Tham Pha Ya
;
17°34′40.1″ N
,
101°53′35.1″ E
;
CUMZ 7930
.
Description
SHELL (
Fig. 4A–B
). Shell strongly depressed to depressed, medium-sized (shell width
17.2–20.1 mm
, shell height 8.6–10.0 mm), rather thin to slightly solid and translucent, milky to pale whitish-horny colour, well-rounded body whorl, little elevated spire, impressed suture, obvious varix, and open umbilicus.
EXTERNAL FEATURES (
Figs 2A
,
5A
). Animal with five well-developed mantle lobes. Left and right shell lobes thin, pale yellowish to fleshy-grey colour and spread with small whitish dots. Three dorsal lobes crescent-shaped and smaller than shell lobes.
GENITALIA (
Fig. 5B–D
). Atrium (at) enlarged and very short. Penis (p) rather long cylindrical, penial sheath (ps) very thick and covering entire penis, and penial caecum (pc) rather small protruding. Inner wall of penis covered with trapezoid-shaped penial pilasters (pp) arranged in oblique rows. Epiphallus (e1 + e2) as long as penis: e1 long and slender, and e2 bulbous and about half e1 length. Inner sculpture of e1 with very small and thin longitudinal folds to nearly smooth surface. Inner sculpture of e2 trapezoid to conical pilasters. Epiphallic caecum (ec) long with thick penial retractor muscle (prm) attached at tip. Flagellum (fl) small and short.
RADULA (
Fig. 10A
). Teeth arranged in anteriorly V-shaped rows with half row consisting of about 70– 76 teeth at middle plate. Central, lateral, and marginal teeth monocuspid and spatulate-shaped with curved cusp.
Fig. 4.
Shells of
Aenigmatoconcha
spp.
A
–B
.
A. clivicola
Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan, 2017
, specimen CUMZ 7928 from the type locality (A) and specimen CUMZ 7930 from Loei Province (B).
C–F
.
A. mitis
(
Pfeiffer, 1863
)
comb. nov.
, syntypes NHMUK ex. Cuming collection (C), specimen CUMZ 7921 from Phetchaburi Province (D), specimen CUMZ 7687 from Kanchanaburi Province (E), and specimen CUMZ 7885 from Nakhon Sawan Province (F).
Distribution
This species is currently known only from 2 localities: the
type
locality (Phu Pha Lom) and limestone hills in
Loei Province
(
Fig. 1
).
Remarks
The genitalia were originally described but without examination of the internal sculpture of penis. In this study, we examined
20 adult
topotypic specimens to provide descriptions of the penial sheath, penial caecum, and flagellum that were not included in the original description. The penial sheath is very large and covers the entire penis (
Fig. 5B
). The short penial caecum, an extension of the penis, is located near the penis and epiphallus junction (
Fig. 5B
). This character is visible when penial sheath is removed. Its internal sculpture is rather smooth, unlike the penial sculpture, with its trapezoid-shaped pilasters (
Fig. 5C
). The Australian helicarionids,
Nitor whitneyae
Stanisic, 2010
has a penial caecum while other
Nitor
taxa do not have a penial caecum (Hyman & Köhler 2018). In Southeast Asian ariophantids, the presence or absence of a penial caecum is a discriminating character among species in genera such as
Macrochlamys
Gray, 1847
and
Taphrenalla
Pholyotha & Panha, 2020
, and is supported by molecular studies (
Pholyotha
et al.
2018
,
2021
). The flagellum of
A. clivicola
is an extension of the epiphallus and is located near the insertion point of the vas deferens. It is somewhat small and short, and bound to the vas deferens by thin connective tissue. This feature is important for spermatophore formation before copulation (
Tompa 1984
;
Baur 2010
). However, during this study no spermatophores were observed in
A. clivicola
.