Ampullaria castelnaudii, Hupe, 1857

Cowie, Robert H. & Héros, Virginie, 2012, Annotated catalogue of the types of Ampullariidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, with lectotype designations, Zoosystema 34 (4), pp. 793-824 : 798

castelnaudii Hupé, 1857 , Ampullaria

( Fig. 2A )

Ampullaria castelnaudii Hupé, 1857: 65 , pl. 11, fig. 1.

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Pomacea (Pomacea) . Synonym of Ampullaria insularum d’Orbigny, 1835 . N. syn.

TYPE SPECIMENS. — Lectotype (here designated) MNHN 23076 ; paralectotypes MNHN 4712 (6 spms).

TYPE LOCALITY. — “le fleuve des Amazones ”.

REMARKS

The specimen here designated as the lectotype, to stabilise the name, corresponds closely with the description, including being very close to the dimensions given. It also corresponds closely with the illustration both in colour and size. We consider it to be the specimen figured in the original description. None of the other specimens is as large as the lectotype and none precisely matches the illustration. Hupé (1857: 66) described the shell as greenish in colour covered with a ferruginous brown sort of epidermis, which also corresponds with the lectotype, but that young individuals were of a pronounced green colour, which corresponds with the appearance of the other specimens considered here as paralectotypes. The paralectotypes and the syntypes of Ampullaria insularum d’Orbigny, 1835 (see below) are morphologically extremely similar and we consider them to be the same species. The holes in the shells (some of the paralectotypes but not the lectotype) were mentioned by Hupé (1857: 66) as being because they had been used to make necklaces. Similar holes are present in some of the syntypes of Ampullaria insularum . Although the lectotype itself is a different colour, it falls within the range of colours exhibited by specimens identified as Pomacea insularum (d’Orbigny, 1835) and that cluster together in a molecular analysis ( Hayes et al. 2009a). We therefore consider the lectotype and paralectotypes to belong to a single species. We here synonymise Ampullaria castelnaudii with Ampullaria insularum . Cowie & Thiengo (2003: 66) considered A. insularum a junior synonym of A. gigas Spix in Wagner, 1827, and others have considered A. gigas a junior synonym of Pomacea maculata Perry, 1810 (see Cowie & Thiengo 2003). The type material of A. gigas and P. maculata may be lost and their synonymy, as well as the possible synonymy of A. insularum and A. castelnaudii with these two species, requires further research. Here we treat A. insularum as a valid species.

Figures

FIG. 2. — A, Ampullaria castelnaudi Hupé, 1857, lectotype MNHN 23076, 103.9 mm; B, Ampullaria celebensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1834, lectotype MNHN 23077, 70.5 mm; C, Ampullaria chariensis Germain, 1905, lectotype MNHN 4478, 38.7 mm; D, Ampullaria columbiensis Reeve,1856,syntype MNHN 4480, 36.8 mm;E, Ampullaria cousini Jousseaume,1887,lectotype MNHN 4483, 43.0 mm; F, Ampullaria decocta Mabille, 1887, lectotype MNHN 23078, 29.7 mm; G, Ampullaria decussata Moricand, 1836, possible syntype MNHN 23079, 28.0 mm.