Spiraculum lamphunensis ( Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan, 2015 )

Tripathy, Basudev, Sethy, Priyadarsi Girija Sankar & Sajan, Sheikh, 2021, Rediscovery of an endemic snail Spiraculum beddomei Blanford, 1866 (Mollusca: Cyclophoridae), with notes on its zoogeography and natural history, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 121 (3), pp. 347-354 : 351

Comparison with Spiraculum lamphunensis ( Tumpeesuwan & Tumpeesuwan, 2015)

On systematic comparison with S. lamphunensis , we did not found any significant difference in dentition formula, but there was the difference in the arrangement of cups and shape. The transverse rows are significantly more in S. beddomei than S. lamphunensis ; thus it is presumed that the shape and arrangement of the tooth could be the possible, reliable characters for species-level identification.

Shell Dimension

(1) Syntype NZSI M.33334/9, D: 27.7 mm, W: 11.9 mm, AH: 10.4 mm, AW: 10.4 mm, N: 5 ½.

(2) NZSI M.33335/9 (two shells) D: 27.8–30.2 mm, W:

13.1–13.2 mm, AH: 10.1–12.4 mm, AW: 10.1–12.4 mm, N: 5½.

(3) NZSI M.33336/9 (single shells) D: 26.1 mm, W: 15.0 mm, AH: 10.1 mm, AW: 10.1 mm, N: 5½.

Comparison with ‘syntype’

The recent specimen collected from Mahendragiri Hills, compared with the syntype NZSI M.33334/9 and NHMUK 1906.1 .1.942 corresponds with type specimen, the most reliable characters being the direction of the sutural tube, which move towards the peristome. Specimens from type locality have flattened spire, whereas recent findings, we notice that the species had elevated spire. This species is easily distinguished by remarkably forward direction of the sutural tube ( Figure 2A–C ) .

Habitat and Natural History

The syntypes ( NZSI M.33334/9 and NHMUK

1906.1.1.942) were collected by Beddome from the Eastern Ghats range of Kimeky Hills near Vishakhapatnam and this hill is connecting Odisha and Andhra Pradesh state politically and cover with continuous forests and hill range of Eastern Ghats. In Odisha, this species was only reported from semi-evergreen forest of Mahendragiri Hills in the Gajapati district 1400–1500m ASL ( Ball, 1880) and this area received an annual rainfall of ~ 2000 mm (http://cgwb.gov.in). The existing habit in the study area has undergone tremendous modifications in the past from silviculture to shifting cultivation and in recent years, cash crop plantations in the hilltops, particularly coffee, cotton and cashew as well as cardamom ( Figure 3A–D ). This alteration in the habitat has brought changes in the soil structure and composition as well as rainfall patterns ( Agarwal et al., 2012). However, in our recent investigation, we observed the species crawling on decaying litter on moist area of the woodland in higher elevation zone of the hills of Mahendragiri in the relatively less human-disturbed areas.

Figures

Figure 2. Radula of Spiraculum beddomei Blanford, 1866 (NZSI M.33336/9), A. Radula ribbon, B. C. radula (ct, central tooth; ilt, inner lateral teeth; olt, outer lateral teeth; mt, marginal tooth).

Figure 3. Extended view of the valley and peculiar habitat of Spiraculum beddomei Blanford, 1866 in Mahendragiri Hills, Eastern Ghats, Odisha (A–D).