Brazilian cave snails

Another freshly pressed paper is by Salvador et al. on Brazilian cave snails. The abstract reads “A sample of land and freshwater snails, mainly pulmonates, was recently collected in caves in Goiás and Bahia states, Brazil. Twenty-one species were found in the material. The following species are reported for the first time for Goiás state: Cecilioides consobrina (Ferussaciidae), Dysopeas muibum and Stenogyra octogyra (Subulinidae), Entodina jekylli and Prohappia besckei (Scolodontidae; also reported for the first time for Bahia state), Pupisoma dioscoricola (Valloniidae). A new species from Goiás is described here-in: Gastrocopta sharae sp. n. (Gastrocoptidae). The new records and species addressed here constitute important findings, helping to fill distributional gaps and improving the knowledge of the local molluscan fauna, an essential step for future conservation efforts”.

Besides the species newly reported for the two states, there are also additional records of the following land snails: Helicina angulata Sowerby, 1873 (Helicinidae), Cyclodonta sexdentata (Spix in Wagner, 1827) and Ringicella luetzelburgi Weber, 1925 (Odontotomidae), Happia glaberrima Thiele, 1927 (Scolodontidae), Allopeas micra (d’Orbigny, 1835) and Leptinaria concentrica (Reeve, 1849) (Subulinidae); five species are identified only to genus level.

This study complements earlier studies on the cave malacofauna in Brazil from part of the authors (see here and here).

Reference:
Salvador, R.B., Cavallari, D.C. & Simone, L.R.L., 2017. Taxonomical study on a sample of land and freshwater snails from caves in central Brazil, with description of a new species. – Zoosystema and Evolution, 93 (1): 193-141.

Photo of the day (169): Rhodea

Eduardo Calderón sent me two photographs for identification. Although the shell height was not mentioned in any way, the figures combined with the locality where the specimen was found (Colombia, near Cali, in a cloud forest at El Faro, ca. 1800 m) makes me think this is likely Rhodea gigantea Mousson, 1873. See also Grego et al. (2007).

Reference:
Grego, J., Steffek, J. & Infante, A.P., 2007. Review of the genus Rhodea (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Subulinidae), with description of two new species from Colombia. – Basteria, 71: 13-28.

Venezuelan land snails

The following report was found on Facebook, with land snails data from NE Venezuela, a region for which hardly reliable data exist in literature.

 

‎Ignacio Agudo‎ aan Moluscos del Caribe/ Moluscos do Caribe/ Caribbean Mollusks

4 december om 23:24 · Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazilië

… NEW UPDATING DATA ( III ) — ABOUT RECENT AND SUB-FOSSIL CONTINENTAL SNAILS (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA: CAENOGASTROPODA & PULMONATA) OF ARAYA PARISH, SUCRE STATE, NORTHEASTERN VENEZUELA, SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN REGION: A “PRELIMINARY” FIELD BALANCE !

Total of seventeen (17) verified species (thirteen (13) terrestrial — two (2) non-native/ exotic — and four (4) freshwater forms — one non-native/ exotic), found in “xerophytic environments” of the parish until “December 2016”, distributed in fourteen (14) genus and nine (9) families.

Important to highlight that, in addition to the three (3) other specifically native aquatic/ limnic forms, all the thirteen (13) native terrestrial species so far detected in the region “contradictorily” correspond to own forms of environments/ humid forest ecosystems ……….

_@/”
SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIP:

– Family HELICINIDAE Férussac, 1822
Helicina tamsiana (Pfeiffer, 1850)

– Family NEOCYCLOTIDAE Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1897
Poteria fasciatum (Kobelt & Schwanheim, 1912)

– Family AMPULLARIIDAE Gray, 1824
Pomacea glauca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Marisa cornuarietis (Linnaeus, 1758)

– Family LYMNAEIDAE Rafinesque, 1815
Pseudosuccinea columella (Say, 1817)

– Family PLANORBIDAE Rafinesque, 1815
Drepanotrema lucidum (Pfeiffer, 1839)

– Family ORTHALICIDAE Albers, 1860
Bulimulus cacticolus (Reeve, 1849)
Bulimulus constrictus Pfeiffer, 1841)
Bulimulus krebsianus Pilsbry, 1897
Drymaeus multilineatus (Say, 1825)
Oxystyla abducta (Shuttleworth, 1856)
Oxystyla maracaibensis (Pfeiffer, 1899)
Plekocheilus (Eudolichotis) distortus (Bruguière, 1789)

– Family ODONTOSTOMIDAE Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1898
Biotocus (- Tomigerus) cumingi (Pfeiffer, 1849) [according to Simone, 2006: Biotocus cumingi]

– Family SUBULINIDAE Fischer & Crosse, 1877
Beckianum beckianum (Pfeiffer, 1846)
Subulina octona (Bruguière, 1798)

– Family ACHATINIDAE Swainson, 1840
Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica (Bowdich, 1822)

---

The adjective ‘native’ which is used here, should be considered with care. E.g., the Subulinid and Achatinid species have been introduced, and also Drymaeus multilineatus has probably been introduced in the past. The list contains thus several species which originate from elsewhere, which is no big surprise as the locality is at the coast.

Apart from some minor errors (Bulimulus and Drymaeus belong to the family Bulimulidae; Oxystyla should be Orthalicus, abducta = obductus), this is information from a country with comparably hardly good information in the malacological literature.

Snails and bones

Another uncovered paper with Simone as one of the co-authors is Galvão et al. (2015) on forensic malacology.

“Little is known regarding the scavenger fauna associated with buried human corpses, particularly in clandestine burials. We report the presence of 20 shells of the terrestrial snail Allopeas micra, within hollow bones of human remains buried for 5 years, during the process of collecting DNA material. The fact that a large number of shells of A. micra had been found in the corpse and in the crime scene supports the assumption that there was no attempt to remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred. Despite this, our observations cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval because there is no precise knowledge about the development of this species. This is the first record of a terrestrial snail associated with a human corpse and its role in this forensic medicine case”.

Reference:
Galvão, M.F., Pujol-Luz, J.R., Pujol-Luz, C.V. de A., Almeida de Rosa, C.T., Simone, L.R.L., Báo, S.N., Barros-Cordeiro, K.B., Pessoa, L. & Bissacot, G., 2015. Shells and bones: a forensic medicine study of the association of terrestrial snail Allopeas micra with buried human remains in Brazil. – Journal of Forensic Science (preprint): 1–4. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12882

New Brazilian species (1)

Two papers were just published by Simone and Salvador, of which today the one about species from Minas Gerais. As usual these authors are keen to show the need for conservation of habitats which may house endemic or new species.

“A sample of land snails was recently collected in a fragment of Atlantic rainforest, in the vicinities of the city of Nanuque (north of Minas Gerais state, Brazil), totaling 15 species. The following new species are herein described: Leiostracus carnavalescus n. sp. and Rhinus botocudus n. sp. (Bulimulidae), and Obeliscus boitata n. sp. (Subulinidae), the first two accompanied by anatomical descriptions. Moreover, the geographical ranges of some species are extended to Minas Gerais: Auris bilabiata, Bahiensis cf. bahiensis, Cyclopomops moricandi, Dysopeas muibum, Helicina boettgeri, Helicina variabilis, Prohappia besckei, and Rectartemon piquetensis. The discovery of new species in such a small forest fragment is a clear reminder of how little the Brazilian terrestrial snail fauna is known. It also points to the fact that these few remaining forest fragments may house many new and possibly endemic species and should, therefore, be properly preserved”.

It may be noted that this paper was available on ResearchGate on the 19th April 2016, while the header states as publication date “30.IV.2016”.

Reference
Simone, L.R.L. & Salvador, R.B., 2016. Taxonomical study on a sample of land snails from Nanuque (Minas Gerais, Brazil), with descriptions of three new species. – Stuttgart Beiträge our Naturkunde A, Neue Serie 9: 9–30.

New snails from Brazil, Edo. Tocantins

The Brazilian state of Tocantins is relatively less-known, partly due to being a split-off of Goiás state. Since its Cerrado domain has been poorly studied, a paper by Salvador et al. (2015) is a welcome addition to our knowledge.

A sample of land snails, mainly pulmonates, was recently collected in southeastern Tocantins state, Brazil, close to the border with Bahia state. The following species were found in the material, all of them are reported for the first time from Tocantins: Helicina schereri (Helicinidae); Solaropsis fairchildi and Solaropsis rosarium (Camaenidae); Anostoma rossi, Cyclodontina cf. gemellata and Cyclodontina sectilabris (Odontostomidae); Drymaeus poecilus and Naesiotus carlucioi (Bulimulidae); Streptaxis luetzelburgi (Streptaxidae); Megalobulimus conicus (Strophocheilidae); Beckianum cf. beckianum (Subulinidae). Additionally, Drymaeus dakryodes sp. nov. is formally described herein. The new records and species addressed here constitute important findings, helping to fill distributional gaps and improving the knowledge of the local molluscan fauna. This is an essential step for future conservation efforts.

The new Drymaeus species was found at Taguatinga, 12º21’54”S 46º21’39”W, ~870m. The holotype (fig. 15-16) is MZSP 114874. The specimen of Beckianum beckianum is a sinistral shell, and other sinistral specimens have been reported from Central America.

Reference:
Salvador, R.B., Cavallari, D.C. & Simone, L.R.L., 2015. Taxonomical study on a sample of land snails from southeastern Tocantins State, Brazil, with description of a new species. – Journal of Conchology 42: 67-78.

Santa Catarina new records

Agudo et al. (2014) published nine new records for the fauna of the State Santa Catarina in Brazil.

The following taxa are concerned:
Family Helicinidae
Helicina schereri F. Baker, 1913
Family Assimineidae
Assiminea sp.
Family Subulinidae
Lamellaxis clavulinus (Potiez & Michaud, 1838)
Lamellaxis (Leptopeas) cf. mizius Marcus & Marcus, 1968
Family Bulimulidae [Amphibulimidae]
Plekocheilus (Eurytus) sp. [the specimen shown is mentioned as P. aff. rhodocheilus (Reeve, 1849) in my previous post]
Rhinus cf. longisetus (Moricand, 1846)
Family Amphibulimidae [both Rhinus and Simpulopsis are now placed in the Simpulopsidae sensu Breure & Romero, 2012]
Simpulopsis cf. ovata (Sowerby, 1822)
Family Megalobulimidae
Megalobulimus klappenbachi Leme, 1964
Family Charopidae
Zilchogyra cleliae Weyrauch, 1965

Reference:
AGUDO-PADRÓN, A.I.; LUZ, J.S.; FUNEZ, L.A.; ZERMIANI, A.E., 2014. Nine new records to inventory of continental mollusc species from Santa Catarina State, Central Southern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology Sciences, 1(1): 15-20. Available at: http://revista.rebibio.net/v1n1/3543-4376-01-03.html

Serra da Capivara

Earlier in 2013 Simone & Casati published a paper on a series of shells from a relatively unknown region in Brazil, the Serra da Capivara.

The abstract is: “Five new species and one new genus are described from the Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brazil, a region of semi-dry, Caatinga environment. The described taxa are: Odontostomidae: 1) Clinispira insolita, n. gen. n. sp., possessing strange spire inclination and aperture approaching to the shell apex, it looks closely related to Anostoma, Tomigerus and Biotocus; 2) Cyclodontina capivara n. sp., with well-developed axial ribs and 6 teeth at peristome; 3) Anctus prolatus n. sp., very elongated, with aperture lacking teeth; Simpulopsidae: 4) Rhinus gilbertus n. sp., somewhat elongated and relatively well-sculptured; Streptaxidae: 5) Streptartemon molaris n. sp., possessing a very large basalis tooth at peristome. Two subulinids are also reported from the region: 6) Beckianum beckianum (Pfeiffer, 1846), a population with peculiar pointed shell apex and well-developed axial sculpture; 7) Lamellaxis cf. gracilis (Hutton, 1834), a wide-ranged species that merits further investigation. These descriptions show how scanty is our knowledge on northeast Brazilian malacofauna and may raise efforts for its preservation.” All material comes from the same locality, Cave Toca de Cima dos Pilão, Coronel José Dias municipality.

Clinispira insolita n. gen. n. sp.

Cyclodontina capivara n. sp.

Anctus prolatus n. sp.

Rhinus gilbertus n. sp.

Streptartemon molaris n. sp.

The new, monotypic genus Clinispira is especially noteworthy, and maybe other species may turn up once this region is better investigated. The study of living specimens should clarify the relationships of the new taxa described by morphological and molecular studies.

Reference:
Simone, L.R.L. & Casati, R. (2013). New land mollusk fauna from Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brazil, with a new genus and five new species (Gastropoda: Orthalicoidea, Streptaxidae, Subulinidae). – Zootaxa 3683: 145–158.

Microscopy and morphology

In a recent paper, Medeiros et al. (2013) gave a detailed account of the reproductive system morphology of the wide-spread species Leptinaria unilamellata through histological studies. The results are described at length and with ample microscopic photos.

Many tropical terrestrial gastropods, such as Subulinidae, are recognized and classified by their shells, as is the case for Leptinaria unilamellata (d’Orbigny, 1835), a hermaphroditic pulmonate snail restricted to tropical America. We aimed to characterize the morpho-anatomy and histology of the reproductive system of L. unilamellata. We compared the results obtained from L. unilamellata with the available data on the reproductive system of other subulinid species. The main distinctive characters are those of the penial complex, such as the proportion of the length of the penial complex and the length of the free oviduct, presence of a flagellum, site of insertion of the bursa copulatrix duct relative to the site of insertion of the penial complex and presence and extension of the penial sheath.

In the discussion, reference is being made to “A. fulica and A. monochromatica” (p. 2401); given the context it is not clear that the authors likely meant species classified within the genus Achatina.

Reference:
Medeiros, C., Daniel, P. A., Santos, E. O., Ferreira, P. B., Caldeira, R. L., Mendonça, C.L.F., Carvalho, O. S. & D’ávila, S. (2013): Macro- and microscopic morphology of
the reproductive system of Leptinaria unilamellata (d’Orbigny, 1835) (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Subulinidae) — Journal of Natural History 47: 2385–2407.

Orthalicid snails from Trindade Island

The paper just published in Tentacle by Salvador et al. (2013a) appears to be a summary of a larger paper in the Journal of Natural History (Salvador et al., 2013b).

Land snails (stylommatophoran pulmonates, shells only) were collected on Trindade Island, ∼1140 km off Vitória, Brazil, by the Marion Dufresnei Expedition (MD-55) and more recently by our team. Trindade’s endemic snails are Bulimulus brunoi and Naesiotus arnaldoi (Orthalicidae), and Oxyloma beckeri and Succinea lopesi (Succineidae). As some non-native species have also been found, a taxonomic revision of the native fauna was needed. Here, the revision is focused on orthalicids, presenting updated descriptions and diagnosis. Moreover, the supposed native orthalicid Bulimulus trindadensis is deemed here to be a Subulinidae, and the new genus Vegrandinia is erected to accommodate it. Trindade’s insular environment is delicate and very susceptible to invasive species. No living specimens of these taxa, native or non-native, have been collected since before the MD-55 Expedition. However, it is still premature to assume that the introduced species have failed to establish themselves or that the native species are
now extinct. (Abstract).

The paper presents useful details on the terrestrial malacofauna, with redescriptions of all taxa and good figures. Unfortunately, no living material of these species could be obtained.

Reference:
Salvador, R.B., Cunha, C.M. & Simone, L.R.L., 2013a. The pulmonate snails of Trindade Island, Brasil. –Tentacle 21: 38-39.
Salvador, R.B., Cunha, C.M. & Simone, L.R.L., 2013b. Taxonomic revision of the orthalicid land snails (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) from Trindade Island, Brazil. – Journal of Natural History 47: 949-961.