Laeocathaica qingchuanensis Wu, 2023

Wu, Min, Shen, Wang & Chen, Zhong-Guang, 2023, Land snail diversity in central China: revision of Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899 (Gastropoda, Camaenidae), with descriptions of seven new species, ZooKeys 1154, pp. 49-147 : 49

Laeocathaica qingchuanensis Wu sp. nov.

Figs 2A, C , 37C , 40 , 44E , 45E, F , 49E , 50B

Type material.

Holotype HBUMM01179a-spec.1, fma, Dagou [大沟] Nature Reserve, Qingchuan County [青川县], Guangyuan, Sichuan Province; limestone and slate, hill foot along stream, from point A (837 m a.s.l., 32.594°N, 105.230638°E) to point B (941 m a.s.l., 32.600888°N, 105.217806°E); 2003-VII-13; coll. Wu, M. Paratypes HBUMM01179a-spec. 2-12, 6 fma (1 protoconch lost) and 5 juvs, 3 fma dissected (anatomy no. sp5); same data as holotype. HBUMM03001, 2 fma and 8 juvs, not measured and not dissected; same coll. data as holotype. HBUMM08195, 1 dissected, Qingchuan, Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, 490 m (SC-QC-040), 32.525556°N, 105.591472°E; near roots of grasses and on rocks, treeless; 2017-VIII-6, coll. Sheng, X.-F. etc.; DNA voucher HBUMM08195a. HBUMM08196, 6 fma and 3 fms,coll. data as HBUMM08195; DNA voucher HBUMM08196a. HBUMM08200, 12 fma and 1 subadult, not dissected, not measured; Qingchuan, Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, 511 m (SC-GY-043), 32.238889°N, 106.08525°E; on rocks and grass leaves, very thin litter layer; 2017-VIII-6, coll. Sheng, X.-F. etc.

Measurement of holotype.

Shell height 10.8 mm, maximum diameter 21.7 mm, aperture height 6.1 mm, aperture breadth 9.2 mm, umbilicus diameter 5.1 mm, protoconch whorls 11/2, whorls 61/4.

Diagnosis.

Protoconch with fine granules. Umbilicus moderately broad, through which protoconch is visible. Bluntly carinate slightly above periphery. Beneath carina a brown band present. Mucous glands 6-8. Approximately 1/2 of penis with three proximal thick internal pilasters, Y-shaped fork formed by adjacent pilasters absent. Vagina between atrium and dart sac moderately elongated. Proximal accessory sacs two, dorsally separated and ventrally touching, each with a pore leading to dart sac chamber near entrance of dart chamber.

Description of shell.

Sinistral, depressed, thin but somewhat solid. Shell with 61/8-7 slightly convex whorls. Suture impressed. Protoconch 11/2-15/8 whorls, fine granules (each ~ 30 - ~ 50 µm long) distinctly present. Growth lines fine and unclear. Aperture oblique, peach-shaped, descending. Within aperture with a white thickening. Peristome expanded and reflexed at lower part. Columella oblique. Umbilicus moderately broad, ~ 1/4 of maximum diameter. Protoconch visible through umbilicus. Shell apically in pale brown with some intermittent darker patches. Carina slightly above periphery, blunt, white; beneath which a brown band present. Whorls apically in yellowish white with intermittent brownish patches. In umbilical view shell yellowish white with several white radial striations.

General anatomy.

Eversible head wart lowly present. At mantle edge leaf-shaped appendage absent. On internal body wall of head region between ommatophorous insertions with neither glands nor tiny pits. Body greyish brown, central dorsum with pale longitudinal stripes. Sole dirty white. Jaw arcuate, with 4-6 projecting ribs.

Anatomy of genital organs.

Penial sheath short. Penis distally swollen, externally simple. Proximal 1/2 penis with four thick internal pilasters which do not fusing, pilasters then branching into numerous fine pilasters that merge into ~ 6 short but thick (thickest in the genus) folds near opening of epiphallus. Vas deferens narrow throughout. Vagina between atrium and dart sac moderately elongated. Accessory sac spherical, internally with high pilasters and fairly solid inside, inserting into dart sac medially, opening to distal dart chamber. Mucous glands 6-8, each single tube or simply branched. PAS two, dorsally separated and ventrally touching, each with a pore leading to dart chamber near dart chamber opening. Proximal bursa copulatrix duct slightly expanded. Bursa copulatrix elongate ovate.

Etymology.

This new species is named after name of the type locality Qingchuan, Sichuan Province.

Ecology.

This species is found on slate rocks covered with mosses in a humid mountainous environment.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality.

Remarks.

Laeocathaica qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov. is close to L. stenochone and L. carinifera in general shell shape, aperture shape and coloration, but the new species has a relatively higher shell (Fig. 50B ) and the slimmest protoconch granules (Fig. 45E ). The new species differs from Laeocathaica stenochone and L. carinifera in that it has both a long vaginal section above the dart sac and the inner structures of penis, where proximal parallel penial pilasters do not form the Y-shaped fork (Fig. 44E ). In addition, compared to Laeocathaica carinifera (Fig. 10 ), the new species has a very short penial sheath and a pair of symmetrical proximal accessory sac (Fig. 40 ). Among the aforementioned three species, Laeocathaica stenochone has a relatively longer penis.

Figures

Figure 2. A distribution map of all known species of Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899 except L. anceyi (Moellendorff in Ancey, 1889), L. hisanoi Pall-Gergely, 2022, and L. leucorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 whose precise localities are not known; white dots: the localities where no Laeocathaica species was ever found B distribution of the new species described in this paper, yellow dots: L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., green dot: L. zhengpingliui Wu, sp. nov., brown dots: L. parapolytyla Wu, sp. nov., white dot: L. qiminglii Wu, sp. nov., pink dot: L. cheni Wu, sp. nov., blue dots: L. qishilii Wu, sp. nov., orange dots: L. nordsiecki Wu, sp. nov. C distribution of L. carinifera (H. Adams, 1870) (green dots), L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov. (yellow dots), and L. stenochone Moellendorff, 1899 (blue dots) D distribution of L. amdoana Moellendorff, 1899 (green dots), L. distinguenda Moellendorff, 1899 (pink dots), and L. tropidorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 (blue dots) C equivalent to the larger box in (A), B, D equivalent to the smaller box in (A).

Figure 10. Genital anatomy of Laeocathaica carinifera (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 08443 - spec. 1 A general view B apical view of dart sac apparatus C cross-section of dart sac at the position arrowed in (A). Abbreviations: AS - accessory sac; At - atrium; BC - bursa copulatrix; BCD - bursa copulatrix duct; DS - dart sac; DtC - a chamber containing love dart; Ep - epiphallus; FO - free oviduct; L - left; MG - mucous glands; P - penis; PAS - proximal accessory sac; PO - opening of proximal accessory sac leading to dart chamber; PR - penial retractor muscle; PS - penial sheath; R - right; Va - vagina; VD - vas deferens.

Figure 37. A Laeocathaica zhengpingliui Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 05553 - spec. 1, holotype B L. cheni Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 05553 b-spec. 1, holotype C L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 01179 a-spec. 1, holotype D L. nordsiecki Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 08446 - spec. 1, holotype.

Figure 40. Genital anatomy of Laeocathaica qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 01179 a-spec. 1, holotype A general view B ventral view of dart apparatus C cross-section of dart sac at the position arrowed in (A) D right view of dart sac apparatus. Abbreviations: AS - accessory sac; At - atrium; BC - bursa copulatrix; BCD - bursa copulatrix duct; DS - dart sac; DtC - a chamber containing love dart; Ep - epiphallus; FO - free oviduct; MG - mucous glands; P - penis; PAS - proximal accessory sac; PO - opening of proximal accessory sac leading to dart chamber; PR - penial retractor muscle; PS - penial sheath; Va - vagina; VD - vas deferens. Asterisk * indicates the opening of proximal accessory sac.

Figure 44. Internal view of penis A, B Laeocathaica tropidorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 A general view, HBUMM 05619 - spec. 1 B proximal penis, HBUMM 05664 - spec. 1 C L. qishilii Wu, sp. nov., general view, HBUMM 08298 - spec. 1, holotype D L. zhengpingliui Wu, sp. nov., general view, HBUMM 05553 - spec. 1, holotype E L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., general view, HBUMM 01179 - spec. 1, holotype F-H L. cheni Wu, sp. nov. F, G HBUMM 05553 b-spec. 1, holotype F general view G proximal penis H HBUMM 08428 - spec. 1, paratype, partial internal view of distal penis. Arrows indicate the position where two penial internal pilasters fuse into one distal pilaster.

Figure 45. SEM micrographs A, B Laeocathaica potanini Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 00633 A protoconch B teleoconch C, D L. dityla Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 00698 C protoconch D teleoconch E, F L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 01179 a-spec. 6, paratype E protoconch F teleoconch G, H L. christinae (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 01251 a G protoconch H teleoconch I, J L. carinifera (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 04162 I protoconch J teleoconch K, L L. polytyla Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 05437 K protoconch L teleoconch.

Figure 49. Habitats (excluding D) A, B Laeocathaica qishilii Wu, sp. nov., border of Jiuzhaigou County and Wen County C L. nordsiecki Wu, sp. nov., Guoyuanxiang, Jiuzhaigou D L. qiminglii Wu, sp. nov., an indoor photograph E L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., Dagou Nature Reserve, Qingchuan County F L. cheni Wu, sp. nov., Hengdan, Wenxian.

Figure 50. Scatter plots of canonical variate 1 against canonical variate 2 (Canonical Variate Analysis), showing the shell morphological relationships among A Laeocathaica distinguenda Moellendorff, 1899 (green dots; a, average shape), L. amdoana Moellendorff, 1899 (blue dots; b, average shape) and L. tropidorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 (orange dots; c, average shape) B L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov. (green dots; a, average shape), L. stenochone Moellendorff, 1899 (orange dots; b, average shape) and L. carinifera (H. Adams, 1870) (blue dots; c, average shape). Encircled dots: 1, SMF 8959, lectotype; 2, HBUMM 05436 - spec. 1; 3, SMF 8952, lectotype; 4, SMF 9074, lectotype; 5, paratype of L. dangchangensis Chen & Zhang, 2004; 6, SMF 9071, lectotype; 7, syntype, NHMUK 1870.7.16.7. Data for 5 from fig. 7 D, 6 and 7 from fig. 12 in Pall-Gergely et al. 2022.