Plekocheilus (Plekocheilus) blainvilleanus (Pfeiffer, 1848)

Borrero, Francisco J. & Breure, Abraham S. H., 2011, The Amphibulimidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Orthalicoidea) from Colombia and adjacent areas, Zootaxa 3054, pp. 1-59 : 18

Plekocheilus (Plekocheilus) blainvilleanus (Pfeiffer, 1848)

( Figs 7 A–C)

Bulimus blainvilleanus Pfeiffer 1848a: 230 . Type locality: Venezuela, Est. Mérida, Jají. Type material: not located. Plekocheilus blainvilleanus (Pfeiffer) ; Richardson 1995: 305 (references).

Material.?, Colombia: ANSP 78579, UF 109839, UF 109840 (not seen), ( Abbott 1989, Parkinson et al. 1987); “ US of Colombia:” CM 62.4695; New Granada: ANSP 25449. Venezuela, Aragua, El Portachuela [sic, El Portachuelo Pass, ~ 1130 m], Sierra de la Costa [= Cordillera de la Costa], A. Wetmore leg.: USNM 472358; Rancho Grande, Test leg./ 1951–52: UMMZ 191693; Carabobo, Puerto Cabello: DMNH 25582, DMNH 76767, USNM 90430. Venezuela, Mérida, Zaji [= Jají], ex T. Pain: NMW Z 1981.1.118.03486.?, “ Venezuela:” CM 62.4696 (Hartman Colln, as P. blainvilleanus loveni ), UMMZ 147702 (Wetherby Colln).?, “South America:” UMMZ 13837 (Stearns Colln).

Remarks. The year of publication was erroneously given as 1847 by Richardson (1995); see remarks under P. veranyi . The type locality was given as “Zaji, province of Mérida” by Pfeiffer; this probably is a misspelling for Jají. The only confirmed localities range from near sea level (Puerto Cabello, ~ 49 m) to ~ 1780 m (elevation of the village of Jají, probably near the type locality).

There is considerable confusion about this and the following species. Several authors have synonymized these taxa, due to the limited samples in collections (usually with very imprecise locality data) and the poorly understood variation. Moreover, the type material for P. blainvilleanus has not been located, making it difficult to solve this problem with the material at hand. Provisionally, we treat the two species as distinct; additional sampling and further anatomical and molecular studies are required. A topotype of P. blainvilleanus is figured here.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Plekocheilus s. str. A – C. P. (P.) blainvilleanus (Pfeiffer, 1848), NMW Z 1981.1.118.03486 (H 60.4 mm). D – E. P. (P.) fulminans (Nyst, 1843), ANSP 328096 (H 47 mm). F – H. P. (P.) loveni (Pfeiffer, 1848), RMNH, (H 33.7 mm). I – K. P. (P.) appuni (Dunker, 1875), ZMB 11926 a, lectotype (H 59 mm), photo C. Zorn.