Natalina Pilsbry, 1893

Herbert, D. G. & Moussalli, A., 2010, Revision of the larger cannibal snails (Natalina s. l.) of southern Africa - Natalina s. s., Afrorhytida and Capitina (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Rhytididae), African Invertebrates 51 (1), pp. 1-1 : 22-23

Genus Natalina Pilsbry, 1893

Aerope: Albers in Martens 1860: 83 [as subgenus of Helix Linnaeus, 1758 ] non Leach in Desmarest, 1823 [Crustacea]; non White, 1847 [Crustacea]; non Thomson in Jeffreys, 1876 [Echinodermata].

Natalina: Pilsbry 1893 in 1892–93: 135. Type species: Helix caffra [sic] Férussac, 1821, by original designation.

Diagnosis: Shell moderate to very large (adult diameter up to 75.5 mm), thin and fragile, lenticular to globose, olive-green to brown, frequently with irregular darker axial bands, but lacking spiral colour pattern; apical surface sculptured with close-set axial riblets, usually lustreless, base smoother and more glossy; peristome interrupted in parietal region; outer lip thin with membranous periostracal fringe, sometimes slightly thickened basally; umbilicus open, width variable; protoconch of ±1.25 whorls, diameter> 4.5 mm, with distinct, close-set, axial riblets more or less throughout. Outermost lateral teeth of radula huge, all marginal teeth vestigial (no teeth of intermediate size between lateral and marginal series). Labial palps well developed. Penis elongate and cylindrical, situated to right of retractor muscle of right optic tentacle; epiphallus well developed (50–75 % of penis length); epiphallus and lower vas deferens joined to penis by connective tissue web; vagina long; oviduct caecum present and well developed. Suprapedal gland long, distally convoluted and with a terminal vesicle.

Notes: As indicated in the Introduction, following our previous work ( Moussalli et al. 2009), we employ the genus Natalina in a restricted sense, treating taxa formerly considered subgenera (viz. Afrorhytida and Capitina ) as distinct genus-level entities. This is based on a evidence from a suite of consistently differing morphological characters and marked divergence in DNA sequence data. In addition, we propose a new subgenus for Natalina wesseliana which represents a distinct and basally divergent lineage within Natalina , and which exhibits several anatomical autapomorphies that set it apart from the remaining species.

Natalina is endemic to southern Africa , occurring to the south and east of the Great Escarpment and ranging from the Baviaanskloof, E. Cape to the Blyderivier area, Mpumalanga (24.56°S) and the mouth of the Limpopo R. valley in southern Mozambique (25.11°S) .