Leptoconchus ingrandifungi, 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 : 34

Leptoconchus ingrandifungi sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 45–47)

Etymology. The specific epithet reflects that the species has been found exclusively in association with fungiid species the individuals of which can become relatively large, i.e. larger than in most other fungiid species. 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 102805 *), found in the mushroom coral Podabacia motuporensis ; Palau, NE of Ngeremdiu , Lighthouse Reef, forereef, 07°16′ 30″N 134°27′25″E.

Paratypes (Pc = found with Podabacia crustacea ; Pm = with P. motuporensis ; Sd = with Sandalolitha dentate; Sr = with S. robusta ; Ze = with Zoopilus echinatus ). Palau. NE of Ngeremdiu: type locality ( RMNH 102800/e found with holotype, 102801* Pm/3sn: 2 m &f in same coral as holotype); 102802* Pc/2sn: m&f+e; Lighthouse Reef, forereef, 07°16′47″N 134°27′50″E ( RMNH 102803* Pm/ 2sn: m&f+e, 102804* Pm/1sn: f+e, 1sh: m); E of Mecherchar, N of Bkul a Chememiich, inside barrier reef, 07°09′20″N 134°24′08″E ( RMNH 102807 Pm/1sn: m).

Indonesia. SW Sulawesi, Spermonde Archipelago: W Bone Lola Reef, 05°06′09″S 119°17′09″E ( RMNH 87824 Sr/1sh: f); W Bone Tambung Island , 05°02′05″S 119°16′ 16″E ( RMNH 87861 Pc/1sn: f). Bali, Sanur, Penjor Point, 08°42′04″S 115°16′18″E ( RMNH 102806 * Sd/1sn: f) .

Diagnosis. Among the Leptoconchus species with reduced and variable morphological characters and associated with fungiid corals, L. ingrandifungi sp. nov. is differentiated by a unique combination of nucleotides in the Cytochrome Oxidase I barcoding sequence ( GB: EU215839, EU215843, EU215844, EU215852, EU215864, EU215865, EU215896), as indicated by underlined letters in Fig. 48 .

Shell. Holotype female (Figs. 45, 46) H 6.6 mm, W 11.7 mm; columellar callus covering most of surface of last whorl; outer lip passing gradually into slightly curved shell base. H and W of largest female shell 15.7 mm and 18.4 mm, respectively, versus 9.1 mm and 10.7 mm for largest male. Figured male shell (Fig. 47) H 8.8 mm, W 9.1 mm. Apical part of female shell in line with apertural edge or slightly below (Fig. 45), whereas it protrudes slightly in male shell (Fig. 47).

Habitat. The snails and their egg capsules were found at 12–29 m depth, with mushroom corals of the species Podabacia motuporensis Veron, 1990 , P. crustacea (Pallas, 1766) , Zoopilus echinatus Dana, 1846 , and Sandalolitha dentata Quelch, 1884 . The siphon pores are located on the underside of the corals.

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

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