Leptoconchus inalbechi, Gittenberger, 2011

Gittenberger, Adriaan Gittenberger Edmund, 2011, Cryptic, adaptive radiation of endoparasitic snails: sibling species of Leptoconchus (Gastropoda: Coralliophilidae) in corals, Organisms Diversity & Evolution 11 (1), pp. 21-41 : 32

Leptoconchus inalbechi sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 39–41)

Etymology. The specific epithet reflects that the species occurs in the coral hosts Ctenactis albitentaculata and C. echinata . For the purposes of nomenclature, it is herewith declared (under ICZN 1999 Article 11.3) as an arbitrary combination of letters to be used as a word; thus, the spelling presented here is to remain unchanged.

Type material. Holotype female ( RMNH 90066 *), found in the mushroom coral Ctenactis echinata ; Indonesia, SW Sulawesi, Spermonde Archipelago, NW Lumulumu Island , 04°58′13″S 119°12′35″E.

Paratypes (Ca = found with Ctenactis albitentaculata, Ce = with C. echinata ). Indonesia. SW Sulawesi: Spermonde Archipelago: type locality (102717 Ce/e found with holotype, 102718 Ce/1sh: m in same coral as holotype; W Samalona Island, 05°07′31″S 119°20′31″E ( RMNH 90115 Ce/1sn: f, 3sh: f); NW Kapodasang Reef, 05°05′38″S 119°14′45″E ( RMNH 90071 Ce/1sn: f); W Kapodasang Reef, 05°05′35″S 119°15′20″E ( RMNH 90076 Ce/2sn: m&f+e, 90102 Ce/2sh: m&f).

Central Sulawesi: Tomini Bay, Togian Islands, Barrier Reef, S Waleabahi Island , 00º26′16″S 122º15′57″E ( RMNH 102719 */2sn: m&f+e) .

Bali: Tulamben Beach, “Temple Bay”, 08°16′43″S 115°35′ 49″E ( RMNH 102720 * Ce /3sn: 2 m&f, 102721 Ca/4sn: 2 m&2f+e, 2sh: m&f); NE Nusa Lembongan, Tanjung Jangka, 08°39′46″S 115°28′06″E ( RMNH 102722 Ce /1sn: f+e) .

Palau. NE of Ngeremdiu , Lighthouse Reef , forereef, 07° 16′30″N 134°27′25″E ( RMNH 102723 Ca /1sn: f+e, 102724 Ce /2sn: m&f+e); do., 07°16′14″N 134°27′21″E ( RMNH 102794 /3sn: m&2f+e); do., 07°16′47″N 134°27′50″E ( RMNH 102795 Ca /2sn: m&f+e) ; S of Garreru, Uchelbeluu Reef, inside barrier reef, 07°16′04″N 134°32′26″E ( RMNH 102796 * Ce /2sn: m&f+e, 1sh: m) ; SW of Ubelsechel, N of Toachel Ra Ngel , 07°18′03″N 134°29′44″E ( RMNH 102798 Ce /1sn: m) ; E of Babelthuap, E of Arudowaishi Pt. , Uchelbeluu Reef, backreef, 07°21′20″N 134°36′22″E ( RMNH 102797 * Ca /5sn: 2m&3f+e) .

Diagnosis. Among the Leptoconchus species with reduced and variable morphological characters and associated with fungiid corals, L. inalbechi sp. nov. is differentiated by a unique combination of nucleotides in the Cytochrome Oxidase I barcoding sequence ( GB: EU215802, EU215803, EU215806–EU215808), as indicated by underlined letters in Fig. 48 .

Shell. Holotype female (Figs. 39, 40) H 20.3 mm, W 25.5 mm (largest female); columellar callus covering most of surface of last whorl; outer lip with an obtuse angle, bordering a straight part at shell base. Male shell (Fig. 41) found with holotype H 12.3 mm, W 11.6 mm; outer lip curved more regularly. Apical part of shell distinctly protruding above apertural edge in female (Fig. 39), slightly less in male (Fig. 41).

Habitat. The snails and their egg capsules were found at 3–17 m depth, with the mushroom coral species Ctenactis echinata (Pallas, 1766) and C. albitentaculata Hoeksema 1989 . The siphon pores are located on the underside of the corals.

Distribution. The range of Leptoconchus inalbechi extends from Indonesia to Palau.

Figures

Fig. 3 Cytochrome Oxidase I phylogeny reconstruction of fungiidassociated Leptoconchus species, showing strict consensus of five trees, i.e. the two most parsimonious trees resulting from a heuristic search, and the three 50% consensus trees with compatible groupings

Fig. 48 Partial Cytochrome Oxidase I sequences for 14 species of Leptoconchus; for each species, the respective combination of underlined nucleotides is considered diagnostic