Patula modicella var. vicinalis Mousson, 1873

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 : 51

Patula modicella var. vicinalis Mousson, 1873

Pl. 3, fig. D

Mousson, 1873. Journal de Conchyliologie, 21: 112.

Type material: Syntypes, ZMZ 503025 (1), ZMZ 503029 (1) (dry shell material).

Label details: ‘Pat. vicinalis Mss., Sunday Isl (Kermandek) (Grffe 72)’ in Mousson’s handwriting.

Type locality: ‘ Ile du Dimanche [= Kermadec Islands ]’ ( Mousson 1873: 113) .

Remarks: The type material was sent to the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg by the naturalist Dr. Edouard Graeffe in the late 1860s or early 1870s, but when it was collected, and by whom, was not stated ( Mousson 1873: 110). A syntype from ZMZ 503025 is illustrated here for the first time (pl. 3, fig. D). Patula modicella var. vicinalis is interpreted here as conspecific with Helix chimmoi Pfeiffer, 1857 (see entry for chimmoi above). Iredale (1913: 384) and Oliver (1915: 565) considered that Graeffe’s specimens of vicinalis were mislocalised, and not from the Kermadec Islands, but as already noted, the chances of the separate collections of chimmoi and vicinalis both being mislocalised are slim. It is more likely that this species was formerly present on Raoul Island, but became extinct there in the late 19 th century.

Taxonomy: Treated here as a junior synonym of Helix chimmoi Pfeiffer, 1857 N. syn.