Pupinidius Moellendorff, 1901

Wu, Min & Zheng, Wei, 2009, A review of Chinese Pupinidius Moellendorff (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora: Enidae), with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 2053, pp. 1-31 : 3

Pupinidius Moellendorff, 1901 (subgenus of Buliminus )

Type species Buliminus pupinidius Moellendorff, 1901 ; original designation

Shell short cylindrical, mostly keg-like, of 5.375–8.375 whorls. Last whorl markedly ascending in front. Whitish or creamy, often with radial, variously developed, irregularly spaced white streaks. Embryonic whorls smooth, post-nuclear finely wrinkled (nearly glabrous). Aperture vertical, toothless, insertions on body whorl somewhat approached; with angular tubercle; aperture margins with expanded lip, forming a cuff. Umbilical depression a narrow slit. Height 13–30, diam. maj. 9.5–19.5.

Vas deferens entering epiphallus at some distance from the top, flagellum short, more or less conic. Epiphallus ranged from very long to short, slender, straight or forming a few to numerous loops, with or without well-defined caecum. Penis cylindrical, with or without penial caecum, proximal portion with thin internal corrugated pilasters; distal portion occupied by thin but high V-shaped pilaster, both arms of which enter lumen of epiphallus. Penis internally with a papilla developed by fused proximal part of V-shaped structure. Penial appendix branching off from penis at some distance from atrium; A-1+A-2 fused, long; A-3 well expressed, short; A-4 gradually passing to A-5. Penial arm of penial retractor attached to boundary between distal and proximal sections of penis, appendicular arm attached to distal part of A-1+A-2. Free oviduct (except in Pupinidius obrutschewi contractus almost invisible) and vagina long. Bursa copulatrix stalk straight or strongly convoluted, with long diverticle (mostly from Schileyko 1998, with some modification according to this study).

Remarks. An epiphallic caecum may be absent, as in P. melinostoma melinostoma , P. nanpingensis nanpingensis and P. pupinella altispirus . The presence of the epiphallic caecum is a diagnostic characteristic for the subfamily Pseudonapaeinae and also present in the type species of Pupinidius .

Distribution. W China and Nepal.