Moussonia brodieae, 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 : 27-28

Taxon classification Animalia Mesogastropoda Diplommatinidae

Moussonia brodieae sp. n. Figs 57-58

Type material.

Holotype MNHN IM-2000-27439, paratypes MNHN/33 IM-2000-27440, NMBE 516856/5. Type locality: Lau Islands, Cikobia-i-Lau (= Thikombia), forest on limestone, 10-60 m, -17.2857 -178.7944, leg. Bouchet, 03.03.1999.

Etymology.

This species is named after Giliane Brodie, lecturer at the University of the South Pacific, to acknowledge and encourage her conversion from nudibranch taxonomy to land snail conservation.

Diagnosis.

Shell dextral, small, translucent light yellow, teleoconch sculpture of strong, widely spaced ribs, aperture rounded, inner parietalis short, outer parietalis low, palatalis short tooth-like.

Description.

Shell dextral, small, last whorl slightly constricted, translucent light yellow; protoconch consisting of 2 whorls, smooth; teleoconch of> 5 bluntly keeled whorls, sculpture consisting of strong, widely spaced ribs, which can bear a periostracal bristle at the periphery (only in really fresh shells); suture deep; last whorl slightly ascending before aperture; aperture attached to last whorl, rounded, peristomial rim reinforced by a strong labial callus, columellar side with a strong columellaris; internal lamellar system with one columellaris, two parietal lamellae and one palatalis; columellaris a thin lamella, with a strong undulation at its end above the aperture; inner parietalis a short lamella, overlapping with the outer parietalis, which is a low lamella; very short palatalis directly above the aperture (can be seen from the outside as a small reflecting callus).

Operculum unknown.

Measurements.

Holotype (Fig. 57): H = 1.75; D = 0.95; PH = 0.56; PD = 0.58; W = 6.5.

Distribution

(Fig. 171). the Lau island Cikobia-i-Lau.

Remarks.

Moussonia brodieae sp. n. is conchologically close to Moussonia polita sp. n., but the latter has only faint ribs, a glossy shell surface, and a very long palatalis, which terminates in a small knob.

Solem (1978) recorded from Mothe Island a shell briefly characterized as "a form with heavy radial sculpture, [...] differing clearly from the smooth-shelled Moussonia fuscula " and that he suspected to probably represent an undescribed species. This may have been Moussonia brodieae sp. n.