Thysanota conula (Blanford, 1865)

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 : 60-62

Taxon classification Animalia Stylommatophora Endodontidae

Thysanota conula (Blanford, 1865) Figure 50

Nanina conula Blanford, 1865: 73. Helix conulus (Blanford) Pfeiffer, 1868: 89. Kaliella conulus (Blanford) Godwin Austen, 1883 (1882-1888): 71. Queridomus conulus (Blanford) Clements et al. 2008: 2762. Type from India, Arakan.

Sitala fimbriosa Quadras & Von Moellendorff, 1894: 89. Kaliella fimbriosa (Quadras & Von Moellendorff) Rensch, 1932: 67. Sitalinopsis fimbriosa (Quadras & Von Moellendorff) Rensch, 1935: 332. Liardetia fimbriosa (Quadras & Von Moellendorff) Van Benthem Jutting, 1950: 410. Queridomus fimbriosus (Quadras & Von Moellendorff) Vermeulen & Whitten, 1998: 104. Type from Philippines, Negros.

Sitala elatior Bavay & Dautzenberg, 1908: 232. Type from Vietnam, Phu-Quoc-Oai.

Thysanota elegans Preston, 1909: 135); Naggs and Raheem 2000: iii, 23. Type from Sri Lanka.

Examined material from Sabah.

Interior Province. Sepulut valley, Batu Temurung (leg. J.J. Vermeulen, V 8044, BOR/MOL 886; leg. M. Schilthuizen, BOR/MOL 885).

Description.

Shell very small, rather thin, somewhat translucent or opaque, pale brown to white, high-conical with approx. flat sides; apex rounded. Surface about dull or with a silky luster above the periphery, shiny below. Whorls moderately convex, (moderately) angular at the periphery, above the periphery slightly rounded or almost flat, below the periphery with a second, moderate angle at a distance from the periphery, below this almost flat. Protoconch whorls convex, with 10-15 distinct, fine, rather densely placed, thin spiral threads; radial sculpture absent or subordinate. Teleoconch: Last whorl with a distinct peripheral spiral thread, below the periphery with a second, equally distinct spiral thread at a distance from the periphery, and coinciding with the suture of the penultimate whorl; next to these two with numerous much finer, well-spaced spiral threads, which become finer and more widely spaced towards the suture and towards the umbilicus. Radial sculpture: growth lines above the periphery and particularly below the suture grading into rather densely placed to moderately spaced, fine, narrow riblets at more or less regular distances. which may form slight nodes where they cross the spiral threads. Umbilicus closed, or open, narrow. Dimensions: Height up to 2.3 mm; width up to 1.6 mm; diameters of the first four whorls 0.40-0.45 mm, 0.60-0.65 mm, 0.80-0.95 mm, 1.05-1.30 mm respectively; number of whorls up to 6 1/2; height aperture up to 0.5 mm; width aperture up to 0.9 mm.

Habitat in Sabah and distribution.

Found near a limestone cliff in logged forest, at 400-500 m alt. Elsewhere in a range of disturbed environments, drought tolerant. Sabah: Interior, Sepulut valley. Distribution elsewhere: India; Vietnam; Peninsular Malaysia; Southwards to Java; Eastwards to Halmahera.

Remarks.

The relative width of the shell shows some variability: some shells are slightly higher than wide, others are distinctly higher than wide.