Leptoxis picta (Conrad, 1834)

Whelan, Nathan V., Johnson, Paul D., Garner, Jeffrey T. & Strong, Ellen E., 2017, On the identity of Leptoxistaeniata - a misapplied name for the threatened Painted Rocksnail (Cerithioidea, Pleuroceridae), ZooKeys 697, pp. 21-36 : 28-30

Leptoxis picta (Conrad, 1834)

Anculosa picta Conrad, 1834a: 343, pl. 1, fig. 16. Possible syntype MCZ 294989 (4 spms); possible syntypes USNM 12074 (2 spms). "Alabama River" [near Claiborne].

Anculosa taeniata Conrad, 1834b: 63. Lectotype ANSP 27620 (Baker, 1964; as “27620a”); paralectotypes ANSP 413583 (3 spms; formerly 27620); paralectotypes MCZ 294987 (4 spms); possible paralectotype NHMUK uncatalogued (1 spm). "Alabama River at Claiborne."

Other references: Leptoxis picta -Haldeman 1848: 3, figs. 74-80; Burch and Tottenham 1980: 154, fig. 476; Burch 1982: 42, fig. 476; Lydeard et al. 1997: 117-128; Dillon and Lydeard 1998: 113-121, fig. 2; Holznagel and Lydeard 2000: 233-257; Lee et al. 2006: 314-317; Strong and Köhler 2009: 483-502; Tolley-Jordan et al. 2015: 235-249; Whelan et al. 2015: 85-95, fig. 4.

Anculosa picta - Tryon 1873: 415-417, figs. 829-830; Goodrich 1922: 14-15, figs. 34, 35;

Other material examined.

ANSP 120760, Alabama River, Alabama; ANSP 85033, Cahaba River, Alabama; ANSP 163024, Cahaba River, Lilly Shoals, Bibb County, Alabama (~ 33.1552°N, 87.0365°W); ANSP 65451, Alabama River at Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5512°N, 87.5142°W); ANSP 187076, Alabama River at Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5512°N, 87.5142°W); UF 81414, Alabama River at Selma, Dallas County, Alabama (~ 32.4049°N, 87.0190°W); UF 82371, Alabama River, Alabama; UMMZ 10175, Alabama River at Selma, Dallas County, Alabama (~ 32.4049°N, 87.0190°W); UMMZ39983, Alabama River at Selma, Dallas County, Alabama (~ 32.4049°N, 87.0190°W); UMMZ 57813, Cahaba River, 19.3 KM W of Selma, Dallas County, Alabama; USNM 507433, Alabama River at Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5512°N, 87.5142°W); USNM 525014, Alabama River at Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5512°N, 87.5142°W); USNM 121232, Alabama River at Selma, Dallas County, Alabama (~ 32.4049°N, 87.0190°W); USNM 519212, Alabama River at Selma, Dallas County, Alabama (~ 32.4049°N, 87.0190°W); USNM 1437744, Alabama River downstream of Benton boat ramp, Lowndes-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3214°N, 86.8215°W); USNM 1437745, Alabama River downstream of Benton boat ramp, Lowndes-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3214°N, 86.8215°W); USNM 1437749, Alabama River downstream of Benton boat ramp, Dallas-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3226°N, 86.8220°W); USNM 1437746, Alabama River at river mile 231.5, Dallas-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3413°N, 86.8159°W); USNM 1437750, Alabama River at river mile 70.5, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5914°N, 87.5415°W); USNM 1437758, Alabama River at river mile 223.7, Dallas-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.4299°N, 86.8308°W); USNM 1437747, Alabama River at river mile 224.7, Dallas-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.4210°N, 86.8337°W); USNM 1437748, Alabama River at river mile 226.5, Dallas-Autauga Counties (32.4064°N, 86.8463°W); USNM 1437759, Alabama River at river mile 227.0, Dallas-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3941°N, 96.8375°W); USNM 1437753, Alabama River at river mile 46, Clarke-Monroe Counties, Alabama (31.4274°N, 87.6452°W); USNM 1437754, Alabama River at river mile 51.5, Clarke-Monroe Counties, Alabama (31.4372°N, 87.5716°W); USNM 1437756, Alabama River at river mile 54.6, Clarke-Monroe Counties, Alabama (31.4734°N, 87.5620°W); USNM 1437761, Alabama River at river mile 58.0, Clarke-Monroe Counties, Alabama (31.5051°N, 87.6125°W); USNM 1437755, Alabama River at river mile 59.7, Clarke-Monroe Counties, Alabama (31.5196°N, 87.6205°W); USNM 1437760, Alabama River at river mile 64.3, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5559°N, 87.5611°W); USNM 1437757, Alabama River at river mile 75.0, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5898°N, 87.5391°W); USNM 1437752, Alabama River at river mile 75.8, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5923°N, 87.5407°W); USNM 1437743, Alabama River at river mile 128.6, Wilcox County, Alabama (32.0409°N, 87.4118°W); USNM 1437744, Alabama River at river mile 233.0, Lowndes-Autauga Counties, Alabama (32.3214°N, 86.8215°W); USNM 1437751, Alabama River 2.4 KM downstream of US Highway 84 bridge, Monroe County, Alabama (31.5455°N, 87.5367°W).

Diagnosis.

Shell globose, larger shells elongately globose, two to three whorls, spire reduced to obsolete. Reddish brown spiral bands typically present on smaller shells, often faded on larger shells, usually four in number, often interrupted. Head-foot and mantle pigmented orange, mottled with black. Egg clutches spiral, 10-11 eggs per clutch on average, with minimal organic and/or inorganic matter incorporated into external casings.

Historical distribution.

Alabama River from Claiborne, Alabama, upstream to mouth of Coosa River. Coosa River below Wetumpka. Goodrich (1922) reported L. picta from as far upstream as bars of the Coosa River below Wetumpka; although we have not examined any lots of L. picta from the Coosa River, we consider this record reliable as it is below the Fall Line. In the Cahaba River, from its confluence with the Alabama River upstream to Lily Shoals in Bibb County, Alabama.

Current distribution.

Disjunct populations in the Alabama River from river mile 46.0 in Monroe-Clarke counties, upstream to approximately river mile 231.5, near the Lowndes/Dallas county line. One recently reintroduced population in the Cahaba River at Centreville, Bibb County, Alabama (P.D. Johnson unpublished data.)

Remarks.

Baker (1964) doubtfully listed ANSP “120960a?” (sic, error for 120760a; now ANSP 120760) as the possible “TOM” of L. picta from among a lot of 16 specimens. Baker stated “TOM” as meaning, "type because only one example was included in the original description, or was indicated by only one set of dimensions (of course the first) or by reference to a (cited) illustration(s) of only one shell, in the definition proper, exclusive of additional remarks." He considered use of this abbreviation as a "type by subsequent selection" ( Baker 1963: 191). Consequently, his use of the abbreviation “TOM” could be a valid lectotype designation under certain circumstances. However, as Baker placed a question mark after the catalogue number indicating uncertainty that the specimen selected was the type by original measurement, he did not unambiguously select a specimen to act as the name bearing type as required by Art. 74.5 (ICZN) and hence this does not constitute a valid lectotype designation. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the lot has any type status; it originated from the Wheatley collection via the University of Pennsylvania and there is no evidence on the labels or in the original ANSP ledger that the lot was obtained from Conrad. It is possible that Baker knew that Wheatley received material from Conrad, but the original label is not in Conrad’s handwriting (G. Rosenberg, pers. comm.). Despite Conrad stating that the type material had been deposited in the ANSP, we have been unable to locate any other possible type material during several searches of the collections. USNM 12074 (Fig. 5A, B) and MCZ 294989 (Fig. 5C) both resemble the shell figured by Conrad and have labels indicating they were received from Conrad. However, both lots are accompanied by labels bearing the less-specific locality Alabama, rather than Alabama River or Alabama River at Claiborne. Moreover, as mentioned, the possible syntypes were not found in ANSP, the stated repository of the types. Consequently, it is possible that neither MCZ 294989 nor USNM 12074 are syntypical and so we refrain from designating a lectotype.

Tryon (1873) considered both Leptoxis foremani (Lea, 1843) and L. flammata (Lea, 1843) to be synonyms of L. picta . Burch and Tottenham (1980) restored L. foremani to species status, but retained L. flammata as a synonym of L. picta . Both L. picta and L. foremani are reciprocally monophyletic and valid species ( Whelan et al. 2015). However, based on shell morphology we here consider L. flammata and L. foremani to be synonyms. As both were described concurrently ( Lea 1843), we here take the right of First Reviser (ICZN Art. 24.2) and establish the priority of L. foremani over L. flammata , making L. flammata a subjective junior synonym of L. foremani . Leptoxis zebra (Anthony, 1860) was also considered by Tryon (1873) to be a synonym of L. picta , but the type material (MCZ 161794, see shells photographs on FigShare, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5084272.v1) resembles L. foremani . Consequently, we here consider L. zebra also to be a junior synonym of L. foremani .