Phrixgnathus phrynia Hutton, 1883

Brook, Fred J., Kennedy, Martyn, King, Tania M., Ridden, Johnathon, Shaw, Matthew D. & Spencer, Hamish G., 2020, Catalogue of New Zealand land, freshwater and estuarine molluscan taxa named by Frederick Wollaston Hutton between 1879 and 1904, Zootaxa 4865 (1), pp. 1-73 : 43-45

Phrixgnathus phrynia Hutton, 1883

Pl. 5, fig. G

Hutton, 1883. The New Zealand Journal of Science, 1: 476.

Type material. Lectotype (designated here), CMNZ M1384 (dry shell).

Label details. CMNZ M1384—‘114. Whanganui, Hutton coll.’

CMNZ molluscan catalogue details. ‘ Phrixgnathus phrynia Hutton, Wanganui (1 specimen) (old No. 114) ’.

Type locality. ‘Wanganui (T. W. Kirk)’ ( Hutton 1883g: 476, 1884b: 177).

Previous illustrations of type material. The shell(s) illustrated by Pilsbry (1892 [in 1892–1893]: pl. 23, figs. 88–90, ‘H. Suter, del.’) and Suter (1915: pl. 9, figs. 23, a, b) are possibly primary type material.

Remarks. Hutton submitted a description of this species to the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute issue for 1883, but publication was delayed until May 1884 ( Hutton 1884b: 177), and was pre-empted by a brief description in an account of a meeting of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury ( Hutton 1883g: 476). These descriptions were based on one or more specimens reportedly collected from Whanganui and sent to Hutton by T.W. Kirk. Subsequently there has been confusion over the identity and distribution of Phrixgnathus phrynia . Hedley & Suter (1893: 649) and Suter (1894b: 279) recorded it from several North Island localities between Whangarei and Whanganui; and Suter (1913: 756), Dell (1954b: 147) and Powell (1979: 329) recorded it as being widely distributed in the North and South islands, and present also on Rakiura/Stewart Island. However, examination of museum collections indicates that it actually has a much narrower distribution (see below). Phrixgnathus acanthinulopsis Suter, 1891 , based on material from Hooker Valley, Mt Cook (i.e., NMNZ M.88018), was listed as a junior synonym of P. phrynia Hutton, 1883 by Suter (1913: 755), Dell (1954b: 147) and Powell (1979: 329), but these two taxa differ morphologically and genetically (M. Kennedy & T. King, unpub. data), and in our opinion are separate species. Laoma (Phrixgnathus) phrynia var. major Suter, 1897 , based on material from Stewart Island (i.e., NMNZ M.125167), was listed as a junior synonym of P. phrynia Hutton, 1883 by Dell (1954: 147) and Powell (1979: 329), but examination of type material indicates that these also are separate species, and that the former is a synonym of Phrixgnathus flemingi stewartensis Dell, 1954 . Phrixgnathus oconnori Powell, 1941 , based on material from Pirinoa [Wairarapa] (i.e., AIM MA70621), is a subjective junior synonym of P. phrynia Hutton, 1883 , as noted by Powell (1979: 329).

Current taxonomy. Phrixgnathus phrynia Hutton, 1883 — Hutton (1884c: 197), Spencer et al. (2009: 217). Distribution. New Zealand; North Island south of Whanganui and Ormondville, Kapiti Island, D’Urville Island, and Marlborough Sounds, northeastern South Island (AIM and NMNZ collections).