Philalanka malimgunung Vermeulen, Liew & Schilthuizen

Vermeulen, Jaap J., Liew, Thor-Seng & Schilthuizen, Menno, 2015, Additions to the knowledge of the land snails of Sabah (Malaysia, Borneo), including 48 new species, ZooKeys 531, pp. 1-139 : 60

Taxon classification Animalia Stylommatophora Endodontidae

Philalanka malimgunung Vermeulen, Liew & Schilthuizen sp. n. Figure 49

Holotype. Malaysia, Sabah, West Coast Province , Kinabalu N.P. , summit trail ( RMNH.5003942 ).

Examined material from Sabah.

West Coast Province. Kinabalu N.P., Summit trail between 3119 and 4080 m (leg. T.S. Liew, BOR/MOL 4192, BOR/MOL 4193, BOR/MOL 4195, BOR/MOL 4196,V 14336, V 14337, V 14338).

Description.

Shell minute, very thin, hardly translucent, pale yellow-brown, yellow-corneous below, (low-)conical with approx. flat sides; apex rounded. Surface with a silky luster. Whorls convex, rounded (angular in juveniles), suture somewhat impressed. Protoconch whorls moderately convex; with inconspicuous, very fine (just visible at 40 times magnification) and dense spiral striation. Teleoconch with very fine (just visible at 40 times magnification), dense spiral striation above the periphery, which is continuous on the top whorls but more patchy on the last whorl; with a similar but somewhat more widely spaced striation below the periphery; spiral striation somewhat subordinate to the rather distinct, irregularly spaced, slightly raised growth lines, which are less conspicuous towards the umbilicus. Umbilicus open, rather narrow. Dimensions: Height up to 1.4 mm; width up to 1.9 mm; diameters of the first three whorls 0.45-0.50 mm, 0.85-1.00 mm, 1.40-1.55 mm respectively; number of whorls up to c. 3 1/2; height aperture up to 0.8 mm; width aperture up to 0.9 mm.

Habitat in Sabah and distribution.

Subalpine vegetation on granodiorite soil. Alt. 3200-4100 m. Sabah: Mount Kinabalu (summit trail area). Endemic to Sabah.

Cross diagnosis.

Most similar in size and shape to Philalanka anomphala , it differs by having an open umbilicus, and by lacking the peripheral thread. It also differs from the extralimital species listed under Philalanka rugulosa by the lack of a peripheral thread.

Etymology.

The species is named in recognition of generations of mountain guides ('Malim Gunung’) who assist tourists and scientists on their way to the peaks of Mount Kinabalu every day, and who have aided scientific discoveries on this mountain since the first documented exploration of Mount Kinabalu in 1851. The species name also serves to honour the guides who lost their lives protecting mountain climbers when Mount Kinabalu was struck by earthquake on June 5th, 2015.