Diancta pulchella, Neubert, Eike & Bouchet, Philippe, 2015

Neubert, Eike & Bouchet, Philippe, 2015, The Diplommatinidae of Fiji - a hotspot of Pacific land snail biodiversity (Caenogastropoda, Cyclophoroidea), ZooKeys 487, pp. 1-85 : 17

Taxon classification Animalia Mesogastropoda Diplommatinidae

Diancta pulchella sp. n. Figs 35-37

Type material.

Holotype MNHN IM-2000-27427, paratypes MNHN/136 IM-2000-27428, NMBE 516875/50. Type locality: Viti Levu, Wailotua karst, 50-80 m, rainforest, -17.7582 178.4166, leg. Bouchet, 25-27.08.1998.

Etymology.

Latin adjective pulchellus, -a, -um = handsome.

Diagnosis.

Sinistral, large shell, last whorl shifted to the left, periomphalum perspectively broadened, broad basal columellar plate.

Description.

Shell large, sinistral, oval, light brown to yellowish; last whorl constricted; protoconch big, bulbous obtuse with microsculpture of minute granules; umbilicus slit-like, closed, periomphalum perspectively broadened; last whorl considerably shifted to the left, only slightly ascending; teleoconch sculpture of fine, regularly spaced ribs, much coarser on the last third of the last whorl and more widely spaced; aperture almost rectangular, peristome doubled; apertural rims connected; aperture shortly detaching from the last whorl with an extraordinarily enlarged ear-like process over the left edge; no pleats visible in the aperture; inside the shell with a single, broad basal columellar plate (Fig. 36, arrows).

Operculum corneous, flat, internally with a broad apophysis, DO = 0.75.

Measurements.

Holotype (Fig. 35): H = 4.56; D = 3.59; PH = 1.66; PD = 1.61; W = 5.

Distribution

(Fig. 170). Only known from the type locality.

Remarks.

Diancta pulchella sp. n. is the largest diplommatinid so far known from Fiji. It cannot be confused with any other Diancta species because of its aperture, which is completely shifted to the left side of the shell. Diancta aurita sp. n. has a similar ear-shaped apertural process, but differs in all other respects including the orange colouration of its aperture. Diancta basiplana sp. n. differs by its bulbous extension on the last whorl, the attached aperture, the ribbing pattern, and the simple peristomial rim.