Laeocathaica minwui Pall-Gergely, 2022

Pall-Gergely, Barna, Hunyadi, Andras, Meng, Kaibaryer & Fekete, Judit, 2022, A review of the genus Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Camaenidae), ZooKeys 1086, pp. 33-76 : 33

Laeocathaica minwui Pall-Gergely sp. nov.

Figure 21

Type material.

Holotype China • China, O. Sy-tshuan, coll. C.R. Boettger ex coll. Möllendorff ex coll. L. Fuchs, SMF 95019 (D = 23.1, H = 9.1) (Fig. 21 ). Paratypes China • Yangtze-Tal, coll. Jetschin ex coll. Beddome, SMF 95020/1 (mixed sample with L. carinifera ) • W. China, Sy-tshuan, coll. Kobelt ex coll. Möllendorff, SMF 6920/1 (det. Wu 2008, labelled as L. christinae ) • China: Hupei: Kao-cha-hien, coll. O. Boettger ex coll. B. Schmacker, 1893, SMF 24263/1 (det. Wu 2008, labelled as L. christinae ) • China, O. Sy-tshuan, coll. Möllendorff, SMF 24255a/5 • China: Chang-Yang, coll. O. Boettger ex coll. M. Schmacker, SMF 42563/2 • Moupin, leg. Abbé David, MNHN-IM-2014-7939/14 (probably erroneous locality).

Diagnosis.

A rather large Laeocathaica species with a sharp keel, a domed dorsal side, an oval aperture and a marmorated ventral side.

Description.

Shell sinistral, depressed, with domed dorsal side, keel strong, situated in the middle of body whorl, whitish; dorsal side latte-coloured, with darker and paler areas alternating as the shell grows; ventral side with white and pale brownish (latte) spiral bands forming a marmorated colour pattern; inner side of umbilicus with brownish spiral band; protoconch light brownish, ca. 1.5 whorls, finely granulose, slightly protrudes above first whorls of teleoconch; entire shell consists of six whorls; dorsal side finely ribbed, ventral side smoother, only with growth lines; umbilicus ca. one third of shell width; shows all whorls; periumbilical keel absent; aperture oblique to shell axis, oval, without incision at the position of keel; peristome white, expanded and slightly thickened, but not reflexed (only in direction of umbilicus); parietal callus practically absent, only with some additional translucent calcareous layer.

Measurements (in mm): D = 23.1, H = 9.1 (holotype).

Differential diagnosis.

Laeocathaica minwui sp. nov. has been confused with L. christinae in museum collections, probably due to the lack of examination of the types of L. christinae . However, L. christinae has a flatter dorsal side, a more upper-situated peripheral keel, a darker brown (instead of latte) colour, a more uniformly white ventral side with a brown spiral band inside the umbilicus, and brownish spots. In contrast, in the new species the ventral side is characterised by a marmorated (marbled-like) pattern resulted by the fusing of whitish and pale brown spiral bands. Laeocathaica filippina has a notched aperture at the position of the peripheral keel, a more brownish colour, and a less marmorated ventral side. See also Table 3 .

Etymology.

This new species is dedicated to and named after Dr. Min Wu, the leading expert of Chinese Camaenidae .

Distribution.

This new species is only known from historical samples from the Yangtze valley. Other samples labelled as being collected from Sichuan are not precise enough to understand their geographic origin.

Figures

Figure 21. Laeocathaica minwui sp. nov. (holotype, SMF 95019). Scale bar: 10 mm. Photographs: B. Pall-Gergely.