Leptoconchus incycloseris, 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 : 33

Leptoconchus incycloseris sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 21–23)

Etymology. The specific epithet reflects that the species has been found exclusively in corals of Fungia (Cycloseris) , viz. F. (C.) costulata and F. (C.) tenuis . For the purposes of nomenclature, it is herewith declared (under ICZN 1999 Article 26) as not to be treated as a Greek, Latin or latinized word; thus, the spelling presented here is to remain unchanged.

Type material. Holotype female ( RMNH 102613 ), found in the mushroom coral Fungia (Cycloseris) costulata ; Palau, NE of Ngeremdiu , Lighthouse Reef, forereef, 07°16′30″N 134°27′25″E.

Paratypes (Fc = found with Fungia costulata ; Ft = with F. tenuis ). Palau: type locality ( RMNH 102614/e found with holotype, 102615*/1sh: m in same coral as holotype); SW of Ubelsechel, N of Toachel Ra Ngel, 07°17′50″N 134° 29′08″E ( RMNH 102616* Ft/1sn: f+e).

Indonesia. NE Kalimantan: Berau Islands, SW Baliktaba Reef, N Panjang Island , 02°34′43″N 118°00′48″E ( RMNH 102617 Fc/2sn: m&f) .

SW Sulawesi: Spermonde Archipelago: W Kudingareng Keke Island, 05°06′09″S 119°17′09″E ( RMNH 87830 Fc/ 1sn: f+e, 87833 Fc/1sn: f, 90051/1sn: f); SW Kudingareng Keke Island , 05°06′21″S 119°17′03″E ( RMNH 90105 * Fc/ 1sn: f+e); W Badi Island , 04°58′05″S 119°16′54″E ( RMNH 90037 Fc/1sh: f); SW Bone Tambung, 05°02′12″S 119°16′ 19″E ( RMNH 87860 * Fc/1sn: f 1sh: f) .

Bali: Tulamben Beach , 08°16′36″S 115°35′37″E ( RMNH 102618 * Fc/2sn: m&f+e); do., SE end, drop-off, 08°16′40″S 115°35′45″E ( RMNH 102619 Fc/1sn: f) .

Diagnosis. Among the Leptoconchus species with reduced and variable morphological characters and associated with fungiid corals, L. incycloseris sp. nov. is differentiated by a unique combination of nucleotides in the Cytochrome Oxidase I barcoding sequence ( GB: EU215812–EU215816, EU215861, EU215866, EU215870–EU215872), as indicated by underlined letters in Fig. 48 .

Shell. Holotype female (Figs. 21, 22) H 10.7 mm, W 10.7 mm; columellar callus covering more than half surface of last whorl; outer lip with obtuse angle at shell base. H and W of largest female shell 18.9 mm and 19.1 mm, respectively, versus 9.4 mm and 6.1 mm for largest male. Male shell (Fig. 23) found with holotype H 6.9 mm, W 5.5 mm. Apex of shell protrudes distinctly above apertural edge in both sexes (Figs. 21, 23).

Habitat. The snails and their egg capsules were found at 5–24 m depth, with the mushroom coral species Fungia (Cycloseris) costulata Ortmann, 1889 , and F. (C.) tenuis Dana, 1846 . The siphon pores are located on the upper side of the corals. Massin (2002) reported a Leptoconchus specimen associated with another coral species of the subgenus Cycloseris , viz. F. (C.) vaughani Boschma, 1923 , from Papua New Guinea. This specimen may belong to

Leptoconchus incycloseris as well.

Distribution. The range of Leptoconchus incycloseris 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