Perrottetia Kobelt, 1905

Siriboon, Thanit, Sutcharit, Chirasak, Naggs, Fred & Panha, Somsak, 2013, Three new species of the carnivorous snail genus Perrottetia Kobelt, 1905 from Thailand (Pulmonata, Streptaxidae), ZooKeys 287, pp. 41-57 : 43-44

Genus Perrottetia Kobelt, 1905

Odontartemon (Perrottetia) Kobelt, 1905[1906]: 91, 108. Thiele 1931: 730. Forcart 1946: 215.

Oophana (Perrottetia) - Benthem Jutting 1954: 95.

Perrottetia - Zilch 1960: 562, 563. Schileyko 2000: 777, 778.

Type species.

Helix peroteti Petit, 1841 by subsequent designation of Forcart (1946: 215).

Description.

Theshell is oblique-heliciform, usually thin and opaque. Its surface is smooth and glossy but fine transverse ridges may be present. The embryonic shell is smooth. The 5-7 whorls increase regularly. The shell periphery is usually rounded and the last whorl does not descend below the preceding whorl but is parallel to the preceding suture. The outer wall of the last whorl generally possesses two short longitudinal furrows that correspond with internal apertural lamellae. The umbilicus is narrow and deep. The semi-ovate aperture has an expanded peristome with a reflexed lip. The apertural dentition consists of two parietal lamellae; palatal, basal and columellar lamellae are usually present; upper palatal and supracolumellar lamellae may also be present.

Living animals possess a yellowish to reddish reticulated skin. The brown digestive gland and the black kidney are visible through the transparent shell. The upper tentacles are longer than the lower pair with a black eye-spot on the tip of the fully extended tentacle; bright red or yellow retractor muscles show though the transparent skin. The foot is narrow, undivided, the tail short.

Genitalia with a long, slender penis; penial sheath short, about half of penis length; internal wall of introverted penis with black to brown penial hooks; vas deferens passes through a short section of penial sheath before connecting distally to penis; vagina and free oviduct short to long, vaginal hooks may be present; gametolytic duct and sac may not extend as far as albumin gland; seminal vesicle present with about the same length from vesicle to talon.

Remarks.

Perrottetia consists of 27 nominal species distributed across Southern Asia, southern China to northern Vietnam. So far, it was not recorded from Thailand ( Kobelt 1906, Yen 1939, Richardson 1988, Panha 1996, Schileyko 2000, Hemmen and Hemmen 2001). " Streptaxis siamensis Pfeiffer, 1862" was provisionally placed in Perrottetia by Kobelt (1906), but the presence of a single large parietal lamella, and the absence of short longitudinal furrows on the outer wall of the last whorl clearly differentiate this species from Perrottetia . Examination of the genitalia of topotype specimens show that this species has a very long penis, with a large proximal gametolytic duct, and short penial hooks that are located on an undulated penial papillae. This indicates that " Streptaxis siamensis Pfeiffer, 1862" should be placed in Oophana Ancey, 1884 (further details of this will be published elsewhere).

The first description of the genital system of a member of the subfamily Streptaxinae Gray, 1860 was published by Gerlach and van Bruggen (1999). Schileyko (2000) included 21 genera within the Streptaxinae . Two of them, Streptartemon Kobelt, 1905, from South America and Seychellaxis Schileyko, 2000, from the Seychelles, share the oblique-heliciform shell, and their penis sheath closely resembles that of Perrottetia . However, these may be plesiomorphic character states, and no phylogenetic affinity can be inferred.