Helix infecta Reeve, 1852

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 : 47

Helix infecta Reeve, 1852

Pl. 5, fig. E

Reeve, (1851–1854) 1852. Conchologia iconica, 7: species 808, pl. 132, fig. 808.

Type material: Lectotype, NHMUK 1962726 /1, and paralectotypes (3), NHMUK 1962726 /2–4 (dry shell material); ex Museum Cuming (Acc. no. 1829) . Lectotype designated by Climo (1978a:186).

Label details: ‘N. Zealand’.

Type locality: ‘New Zealand’ (Reeve 1852 [in 1851–1854]: species 808).

Previous illustrations of type material: Reeve (1852 [in 1851–1854]: pl. 132, fig. 808); Pfeiffer (1853 [in 1852–1860]: pl. 155, figs. 27–30—as Helix zata ); Tryon (1887 [from Reeve, 1852]: pl. 3, fig. 14); Climo (1978a: fig. 3).

Remarks: Helix infecta Reeve, 1852 and H. zeta Pfeiffer, 1853 are based on the same type material, which H. Cuming had obtained from the Australian-based naturalist Frederick Strange. Pfeiffer evidently intended to publish the original description of this species in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London issue for 1851 (see Reeve 1852 [in 1851–1854]: species 808; Pfeiffer 1853a: 109, 1854 [in 1852–1860]: 459), but publication was delayed until 1854 ( Pfeiffer 1854a: 58), and was pre-empted by Reeve (1852 [in 1851–1854]). Five shells in NHMUK 1852.3.19.12–16, with the label details ’ Helix zeta Pfeiffer , New Zealand, presented by Col. Bolton’, and a further three specmens in NHMUK 1852.3.19.223–225, labelled ’ Helix zeta Pfeiffer , New Zealand, collected by F. Strange, presented by Capt. Stokes’, may have been collected at the same locality as the type series of H. infecta . Historically there was considerable confusion over the identity of H. infecta , with some authors (including Suter 1913b: 717, 1915: pl. 28, figs. 8a, b; Climo 1969a: 214, pl. 10 A, B; Powell 1979: 307) incorrectly using Reeve’s name for other species (see Climo 1978a: 178). Iredale (1915a) erected the genus Fectola , and designated Helix infecta Reeve, 1852 as the type species, for Suter’s (1913b: 711) ‘Group of Endodonta infecta ’, which did not in fact include any species that were conspecific, or even congeneric, with Reeve’s infecta . As noted by Climo (1978a: 178), the genus name Fectola was subsequently applied to a group of species unrelated to Reeve’s species (e.g., Powell 1937: 89, 1946b: 94, 1957: 119, 1962: 111, 1976: 115, 1979: 307; Dell 1954b: 146, 1955: 1144). Climo (1969a: 181) misinterpreted H. infecta Reeve , listed H. biconcava Pfeiffer, 1853 [= H. biconcava Reeve, 1852 ] as a junior subjective synonym, and treated Fectola Iredale as a junior synonym of Ptychodon Ancey, 1888 . In a subsequent revision, Climo (1978a) used the name Fectola for Helix infecta Reeve, 1852 [i.e., the nominal species previously cited as the type species] and related species, based on a literal interpretation, rather than the intent, of Iredale’s (1915) generic classification (see ICZN Article 70.3.1). The species in Suter’s ‘Group of Endodonta infecta ’ that Iredale assigned to Fectola are now generally included in the genus Cavellia Iredale, 1915 sensu lato, following Solem et al. (1981), Climo (1983: 12) and subsequent workers. Patula timandra Hutton, 1883 is interpreted here as a junior synonym of H. infecta , as determined from the descriptions and illustrations of Pilsbry (1892 [in 1892–1893]: 84, pl. 24, figs. 21–23) and Suter (1894a: 128, pl. XV, fig. 13).

Current Taxonomy: Listed as Fectola infecta (Reeve, 1852) by Climo (1978a: 186, 1989: 593) and Spencer et al. (2009: 215).

Distribution: New Zealand; northern North Island ( Climo 1978a: fig. 3, 1989: fig. 3).