Leptoconchus inlimax, Gittenberger, 2011

Gittenberger, Adriaan Gittenberger Edmund, 2011, Cryptic, adaptive radiation of endoparasitic snails: sibling species of Leptoconchus (Gastropoda: Coralliophilidae) in corals, Organisms Diversity & Evolution 11 (1), pp. 21-41 : 35-36

Leptoconchus inlimax sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 33–35)

Etymology. The specific epithet reflects that the species has been found exclusively in corals of Herpolitha limax . For the purposes of nomenclature, it is herewith declared (under ICZN 1999 Article 26) as not to be treated as a Greek, Latin or latinized word; thus, the spelling presented here is to remain unchanged.

Type material. Holotype female ( RMNH 90045 ), found in the mushroom coral Herpolitha limax ; Indonesia, SW Sulawesi, Spermonde Archipelago, W Samalona Island , 05°07′31″S 119°20′31″E.

Paratypes. Indonesia. SW Sulawesi, Spermonde Archipelago : type locality (102679/1sn: f, 1sh: m found with holotype; 90053/1sn: f, 1sh: f); SW Samalona, 05°07′42″S 119°20′31″E ( RMNH 90109 /1sn: f); W Bona Baku Reef, 05° 07′56″S 119°21′39″E ( RMNH 90016 /1sn: f); W Kudingareng Keke Island , 05°06′09″S 119°17′09″E ( RMNH 90026 /1sn: f); NW Kapodasang, 05°05′38″S 119°14′45″E ( RMNH 90069 / 1sn: f, 90073/1sn: f); W Bone Batang, 05°00′42″S 119°19′31″ E ( RMNH 90034 /1sn: f, 90036*/1sn: m) .

N Sulawesi: SW Gorontalo, 00°21′31″N 124°03′14″E ( RMNH 102680 */1sn: f) .

Central Sulawesi, Tomini Bay, Togian Islands: Barrier Reef, S Waleabahi Island , 00°26′16″S 122°15′57″E ( RMNH 102681 /2sn: m&f); S Talatakoh Island , 00°28′22″ S 122°08′22″E ( RMNH 102682 /3sn: 2m &f+e 1sh: f); S Batudaka Island , 00°35′25″S 121°41′38″E ( RMNH 102683 */2sn: m&f) .

Bali: Sanur, Penjor Point, 08°41′36″S 115°16′20″E ( RMNH 102684 /2sn: f); Sanur , Loloan Batu Agung , 08° 43′31″S 115°15′57″E ( RMNH 102685 /6sn: 3m&3f+e, 102686/3sn: 1m&2f+e 1sh: m, 102687/1sn: f, 102688/ 4sn: 2m&2f+e); Tulamben Beach, 08°16′36″S 115°35′37″E ( RMNH 102689 /2sn: m&f+e); Tulamben Beach, 08°16′40″ S 115°35′45″E ( RMNH 102690 /1sn: f+e); N Nusa Penida, off Desa Ped, 08°40′28″S 115°30′50″E ( RMNH 102691 */ 2sn: m&f); NE Nusa Lembongan, Tanjung Jangka, 08°39′ 46″S 115°28′06″E ( RMNH 102692 /2sn: m&f+e) .

NE Kalimantan, Berau Islands, Karang Pinaka, NW Samama Island , 02°11′22″N 118°17′25″E ( RMNH 102693 / 3sn: 2m &1f+e) .

Philippines. Cebu Strait, SW of Bohol, S of Panglao, NE Balicasag Island , 09°30′N 123°41″E ( RMNH 102694 /2sn: m&f+e) .

Palau. NE of Ngeremdiu , Lighthouse Reef, forereef, 07° 16′30″N 134°27′25″E ( RMNH 102695 /2sn: m&f+e,

102696*/2sh: f, 102697/1sn: f, 102698/2sn: m&f+e); NE of Ngeremdiu , Lighthouse Reef, backreef, 07°17′11″N 134°27′ 26″E ( RMNH 102699 /2sn: m&f+e) ; S of Garreru , Uchelbeluu Reef, inside barrier reef, 07°16′04″N 134°32′26″E ( RMNH 102700 /1sn: f+e 1sh: m, 102701/2sn: m&f+e) ; S of Ubelsechel, NE of Toachel Ra Ngel , 07°18′28″N 134°30′23″E ( RMNH 102702 /1sn: f) .

Maldives. Ari Atoll, Vilamendhoo Island ( RMNH 102703*/1sn: f).

Diagnosis. Among the Leptoconchus species with reduced and variable morphological characters and associated with fungiid corals, L. inlimax sp. nov. is differentiated by a unique combination of nucleotides in the Cytochrome Oxidase I barcoding sequence ( GB: EU215829–EU215833, EU215884), as indicated by underlined letters in Fig. 48 .

Shell. Holotype female (Figs. 33, 34) H 19.1 mm, W 22.8 mm; columellar callus covering most of surface of last whorl; lower part of outer lip with obtuse angle at shell base. H and W of largest female shell 20.3 mm and 22.1 mm, respectively, versus H 13.2 mm and W 10.6 mm for largest male (found with holotype; Fig. 35). Apical part of female shell slightly protruding above apertural edge (Fig. 33), apex of male shell protruding distinctly (Fig. 35).

Habitat. The snails and their egg capsules were found at 5–24 m depth, exclusively with the mushroom coral species Herpolitha limax (Esper, 1797) . The siphon pores are located on the underside of the corals.

Distribution. The range of this species extends from the Philippines and Palau to Indonesia.

Figures

Fig. 3 Cytochrome Oxidase I phylogeny reconstruction of fungiidassociated Leptoconchus species, showing strict consensus of five trees, i.e. the two most parsimonious trees resulting from a heuristic search, and the three 50% consensus trees with compatible groupings

Fig. 48 Partial Cytochrome Oxidase I sequences for 14 species of Leptoconchus; for each species, the respective combination of underlined nucleotides is considered diagnostic