Diplommatina chordata Pfeiffer, 1855

Brook, Fred J. & Ablett, Jonathan D., 2019, Type material of land snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) described from New Zealand by taxonomists in Europe and North America between 1830 and 1934, and the history of research on the New Zealand land snail fauna from 1824 to 1917, Zootaxa 4697 (1), pp. 1-117 : 83

Diplommatina chordata Pfeiffer, 1855

Pfeiffer, 1855. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 23: 105.

Type material: Syntype (1), NHMUK 20160223 (dry shell material); ex Museum Cuming (Acc. no. 1829). Specimen formerly attached to board now missing and presumed lost or destroyed .

Label details: ‘ New Zealand, Mr. Strange’.

Type locality: Unknown; incorrectly stated as ‘New Zealand’ by Pfeiffer (1855d: 105).

Remarks: There are no published illustrations of the type material, which was sent to H. Cuming by the Australian-based naturalist Frederick Strange. Pfeiffer (1855d: 105) gave the dimensions of this sinistrally-coiled species as “Long. 4, diam. 2 mill.” Pfeiffer (1855d: 105) also listed, but did not describe, a variety of this species from ‘Lord Howe’s Island’, based on one or more specimens collected by John MacGillivray, presumably during a visit to that island on H.M.S. Herald in 1853. There are no subsequent records of Diplommatina chordata from New Zealand (e.g., Hedley & Suter 1893: 620; Suter 1913b: 185), and the type material was undoubtedly mis-localised. According to Iredale (1944: 303–304), Pfeiffer’s description of chordata matches Pupa strangei Benson, 1853, from eastern Australia, the types of which were also collected by Strange ( Benson 1853: 286).

Current Taxonomy: Possibly a junior synonym of Pupa strangei Benson, 1853.

Distribution: Not determined.