Parachondria (Chondropomorus) caricae (Pfeiffer, 1858)

Watters, G. Thomas, 2016, Review of the Hispaniolan Parachondria (Chondropomorus) complex (Gastropoda: Littorinoidea: Annulariidae), Zootaxa 4127 (2), pp. 245-275 : 250-251

Parachondria (Chondropomorus) caricae (Pfeiffer, 1858)

Figures 1 P–W, 5 A

Type material. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 : not located. Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946 : NMNH 471990 (2 specimens in lot, holotype listed as 12.2 mm long specimen). Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946 : NMNH 336770, holotype.

Type locality. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 : “ Prope Santiago insulae Haiti.” Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946 : “Above Navarrete Station on the railroad running from Puerto Plata to Santiago, Dominican Republic.” See Distribution below. Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946 : “At Sosúa, 17 miles east of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.”

Type figured. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 : unfigured. Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946 : Bartsch, 1946: pl. 3, fig. 5. C hondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946 : Bartsch, 1946: pl. 3, fig. 4.

Chresonymy. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer in Hjalmarson & Pfeiffer, 1858: 142 ; Bland, 1861: 355; Pfeiffer, 1865: 156–157; Pfeiffer, 1876: 196; Kobelt, 1880: 277; Crosse, 1891: 174; Watters, 2006: 192–193.

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 . Henderson & Bartsch, 1920: 61; Clench & Aguayo, 1937: 65.

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 . Bartsch, 1946: 20 –22, pl. 3, fig. 2.

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946: 21 –22, pl. 3, fig. 5; Ruhoff, 1973: 102; Watters, 2006: 193.

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946: 20 –21, pl. 3, fig. 4; Ruhoff, 1973: 128; Watters, 2006: 193.

Parachondria (Parachondria) caricae caricae (Pfeiffer, 1858) . Watters, 2006: 46, 192–193.

Parachondria (Parachondria) caricae navarretensis ( Bartsch, 1946) . Watters, 2006: 46, 193.

Parachondria (Parachondria) caricae sosuensis ( Bartsch, 1946) . Watters, 2006: 46, 193.

Distribution and habitat. Authors have identified the habitat of this species as living on papaya trees (Pfeiffer in Hjalmarson & Pfeiffer, 1858; 1865; Crosse, 1891). Pfeiffer (in Hjalmarson & Pfeiffer, 1958: 142) specifically reported specimens “under fallen leaves on the roots of Carica papaya, usually in pairs” (translated here from German). However, papayas are not native to Hispaniola and other records place this species on limestone outcrops in evergreen forests. There are very few records of this species and its actual range is unknown. It is currently known only from the vicinity of Santiago de Los Caballeros in Santiago Province and from Puerto Plata and Sosúa in Puerto Plata Province.

Bartsch’s type locality description of C. c. navarretense is somewhat misleading. He implied that Navarrete Station was on the railroad between Puerto Plata and Santiago. Navarrete is now called Bisonó and is located on the railroad that runs from Puerto Plata through Santiago to Bisonó some 25 km further west. It is located in the Cibao Valley between the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Septentrional.

Material examined (17 specimens). Dominican Republic. OSUM 22087(2), Tacagera [not located], Santiago Province; UF 216562(15), 3 km W of Puerto Plata, Puerto Plata Province.

Redescription. Shell solid, opaque, high-spired, elongate conic. Maximum adult size: 16.1 mm, decollate. Minimum adult size: 9.9 mm, decollate. Adult shell decollated. Protoconch of 1.5 pale tan, smooth whorls. Teleoconch of 4.25–5.25 whorls. Axial sculpture of final whorl of numerous (ca. 100–120) very fine, narrowly spaced, weak threads of varying width. Growth stoppage lines usually present. Spiral sculpture of final whorl outside of umbilicus of ca. 20–30 irregularly sized, weak threads, widely spaced near suture, narrowly spaced elsewhere. Intersections of sculpture form very weak, axially elongated beads. Overall sculpture appearing as weak, irregular fenestrations or scallops. Umbilicus smooth within or with few very indistinct threads. Suture indented but not channeled. 1–3 threads are narrowly expanded at suture into sharp denticles or cusps; these are irregularly spaced. Aperture oval, lip double. Inner lip slightly exserted, thickened. Outer lip thickened, narrowly expanded, except narrower facing umbilicus, slightly recurved abaperturally. Adnate or narrowly detached from body whorl within same population. Weak posterior auricle broad and low. Color pattern pale and not well-defined. Base color off-white or tan. Smudged, pale tan and white axial zig-zags or dots that mark leading edge of growth stoppage areas; bands continue as brown bands on both sides of outer lip, tending to few narrow, weak spiral bands near umbilicus; umbilicus without bands. Beads and sutural denticles white. Operculum paucispiral with granular deposit.

Variation in specimens. The few specimens seen differ primarily in having the outer lip either adnate or narrowly detached from the previous whorl. Specimens with a solute outer lip were named C. c. sosuense Bartsch, 1946 , but this feature occurs along with adnate outer lipped individuals in a single population. Bartsch (1946) also named C. c. navarretense for specimens having fine sculpture but this is also a variable characteristic.

Comparison with other species. This small, pale species is most similar to P. s i l v at i c u s. That species differs in its much coarser sculpture: 70–80 axial threads in P. silvaticus vs. 100–120 threads in P. caricae ; 14–16 spiral threads in P. silvaticus vs. 20–30 threads in P. caricae .

Remarks. Although the description appeared in Hjalmarson & Pfeiffer (1858) the species was listed as “ Chondropoma Caricae Pfr. ” and Pfeiffer is considered the sole author of the taxon. The species was not figured by Pfeiffer and the type has not been located. Bartsch (1946) identified his specimens based on the locality and the brief description given by Pfeiffer. This is reasonable as this is one of the few members of the complex recorded near Santiago and the description adequately matches Bartsch’s specimens.

Original descriptions. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 . Pfeiffer in Hjalmarson & Pfeiffer (1858: 142) (translated here from Latin): “Shell slightly perforate, oblong-turret, solid, spiral raised lines and longitudinally subequally granular-decussated, pale brown, red spots and white variegated streaks; spire regularly narrowed, truncate; suture irregularly and widely crenulated; remaining 5 whorls convex, last not solute; aperture vertical, subangulate-oval; peristome double: inner slightly prominent, outer produced on top, right side shortly expanded, left obsolete.—Operculum flat, cartilaginous.”

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946 : See Bartsch (1946: 21–22).

Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946 : See Bartsch (1946: 20–21).

Etymology. Chondropoma caricae Pfeiffer, 1858 : L. carica, fig or papaya [“ Ad radicae Caricae Papayae,” fide Pfeiffer, 1865: 156–157]. Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae navarretense Bartsch, 1946 : Navarrete Station, Dominican Republic. Chondropoma (Chondropomorus) caricae sosuense Bartsch, 1946 : Sosúa, Dominican Republic.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A – H. Parachondria (Chondropomorus) anatolensis new species. A, B. UF 216728, holotype, 14.6 mm. C. UF 216728, paratype 1, 14.4 mm. D. UF 216728, paratype 2, 14.4 mm. E. UF 216728, paratype 3, 12.3 mm. F. UF 216728, paratype 4, 11.8 mm. G. UF 216728, holotype, detail of spire. H. UF 216728, holotype, detail of suture.