Laeocathaica christinae (H. Adams, 1870)

Wu, Min, Shen, Wang & Chen, Zhong-Guang, 2023, Land snail diversity in central China: revision of Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899 (Gastropoda, Camaenidae), with descriptions of seven new species, ZooKeys 1154, pp. 49-147 : 49

Laeocathaica christinae (H. Adams, 1870)

Figs 2A , 11B , 12 , 42C , 45G, H

Helix (Plectotropis) christinae H. Adams, 1870: 377, pl. 27, fig. 4, 4a.

Helix (Plectopylis) christinae - Ancey, 1882: 44.

Helix christinae - Dohrn, 1881: 596, pl. 174, figs 17-19; - Möllendorff 1884: 340, 351; - Gredler 1884: 264; - Heude 1885: 111, pl. 29, fig. 4; - Pilsbry 1892: 213, pl. 57, figs 15-17.

Laeocathaica christinae - Möllendorff 1899: 43; - Gude 1902: 6; - Yen 1942: 283, pl. 28, fig. 197; - Chen and Zhang 2004: 334, fig. 326; - Páll-Gergely et al. 2022: 54, fig. 13.

Laeocathaica (Laeocathaica) christinae christinae - Zilch 1968: 173.

Laeocathaica (Laeocathaica) christinae - Richardson 1983: 77.

Museum material.

SMF 61056 . Labeled with L. subsimilis : SMF 50089 , two fms; W-Hupei, China; Slg. g. Maegele ex V. Gredler, 1906 .

New material.

HBUMM01251a, many fma, 1 fma dissected; Wuyuandong [无源洞] and nearby, Badong [巴东], Hubei Province, 254 m a.s.l., 31.027667°N, 110.420139°E, broad-leaved woods, limestone, humid, 2003-VIII-20, coll. Wu, M. HBUMM04204, Wuyuandong and nearby, Badong, Hubei Province, 255 m a.s.l., 31.026806°N, 110.422111°E, broad-leaved woods, limestone, humid, 2004-VII-31, coll. Wu, M., Wu, Q., Qi, G.

Distribution.

Chongqing: Fengjie (type locality: Fungsiang gorge (= Fengxiangxia)); Hubei: Badong.

Additional information of shell.

Tiny granules (~ 5 - ~ 50 µm) are densely and radially arranged throughout the protoconch. The erosion or weathering of sculpture on adult shell is not observed. Spiral grooves are absent throughout the shell. On teleoconch the growth lines are usually indistinct.

General anatomy.

Eversible head wart weakly present. Jaw arcuate, with four projecting ribs.

Anatomy of genital organs.

Penial sheath covering ~ 1/3 of penis. Penis tubular and equally thick. Inside penis, 5-6 narrow or thick pilasters present, Y-shaped fork formed by adjacent pilasters absent. Fine pilasters on distal end of penis merging into seven or eight thick folds. Vas deferens narrow throughout. Vagina between atrium and dart sac not elongated. Vagina between dart sac and insertion of bursa copulatrix duct ~ 1/2 length of dart sac. Dart sac slightly shorter than penis. Love dart ~ 5 mm long, apically 2-bladed. Accessory sac small but externally distinct, internally empty but spatially narrow, inserting into dart sac at middle part, opening to distal dart chamber. Mucous glands four (HBUMM04204-spec.14, spec.16) or five (HBUMM04204-spec.13, HBUMM01251a-spec.1), each complicatedly branched. Proximal accessory sacs two, symmetrical or the left one slightly larger (HBUMM04204-spec.14), dorsally and ventrally separated, each with a distal opening leading to dart chamber near its opening. Bursa copulatrix duct of even diameter. Bursa copulatrix ovate, small.

Remarks.

This species is not known from NW Sichuan, so the specimens distributed in “Wentschun” [Wenchuan 汶川] identified as Cathaica christinae by Blume (1925; followed by Yen 1938), may indicate some other sinistral species. However, it could also be an erroneous site naming, as all field records except this indicate that no Laeocathaica species is distributed in Wenchuan.

Figures

Figure 2. A distribution map of all known species of Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899 except L. anceyi (Moellendorff in Ancey, 1889), L. hisanoi Pall-Gergely, 2022, and L. leucorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 whose precise localities are not known; white dots: the localities where no Laeocathaica species was ever found B distribution of the new species described in this paper, yellow dots: L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., green dot: L. zhengpingliui Wu, sp. nov., brown dots: L. parapolytyla Wu, sp. nov., white dot: L. qiminglii Wu, sp. nov., pink dot: L. cheni Wu, sp. nov., blue dots: L. qishilii Wu, sp. nov., orange dots: L. nordsiecki Wu, sp. nov. C distribution of L. carinifera (H. Adams, 1870) (green dots), L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov. (yellow dots), and L. stenochone Moellendorff, 1899 (blue dots) D distribution of L. amdoana Moellendorff, 1899 (green dots), L. distinguenda Moellendorff, 1899 (pink dots), and L. tropidorhaphe Moellendorff, 1899 (blue dots) C equivalent to the larger box in (A), B, D equivalent to the smaller box in (A).

Figure 11. A Laeocathaica minwui Pall-Gergely, 2022, SMF 24255 a B L. christinae (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 01251 - spec. 1.

Figure 12. Genital anatomy of Laeocathaica christinae (H. Adams, 1870) A, C HBUMM 01251 - spec. 1 B, D HBUMM 04204 - spec. 1 A general view B-D apical, ventral, and left views of dart sac apparatus. Abbreviations: AO - opening of accessory sac leading to dart chamber; AS - accessory sac; At - atrium; BC - bursa copulatrix; BCD - bursa copulatrix duct; DS - dart sac; DtC - a chamber containing love dart; Ep - epiphallus; FO - free oviduct; MG - mucous glands; P - penis; PAS - proximal accessory sac; PO - opening of proximal accessory sac leading to dart chamber or dart sac chamber; PR - penial retractor muscle; PS - penial sheath; Va - vagina; VD - vas deferens. Asterisk * indicates the opening of proximal accessory sac.

Figure 42. Internal view of penis A, B Laeocathaica dolani (Pilsbry, 1934), HBUMM 00069 - spec. 1 A general view B proximal penis C L. christinae (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 01251 a-spec. 1, general view D L. phaeomphala Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 05433 - spec. 1 E L. odophora Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 08430 - spec. 1 F L. pewzowi Moellendorff, 1899, ZIN RAS No. 4, " Aegista pewzowi Schalf. " G, H L. parapolytyla Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 06640 - spec. 1, holotype G general view H proximal part. Arrows indicate the position where two penial internal pilasters fuse into one distal pilaster.

Figure 45. SEM micrographs A, B Laeocathaica potanini Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 00633 A protoconch B teleoconch C, D L. dityla Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 00698 C protoconch D teleoconch E, F L. qingchuanensis Wu, sp. nov., HBUMM 01179 a-spec. 6, paratype E protoconch F teleoconch G, H L. christinae (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 01251 a G protoconch H teleoconch I, J L. carinifera (H. Adams, 1870), HBUMM 04162 I protoconch J teleoconch K, L L. polytyla Moellendorff, 1899, HBUMM 05437 K protoconch L teleoconch.