Helix thamnoica d'Orbigny , 1835

Breure, Abraham S. H. & Ablett, Jonathan D., 2014, Annotated type catalogue of the Bulimulidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Orthalicoidea) in the Natural History Museum, London, ZooKeys 392, pp. 1-367 : 159-160

Helix thamnoica d'Orbigny, 1835 Figs 68A , L60ii

Helix thamnoica d’Orbigny 1835: 16.

Bulimus thamnoicus d’Orbigny 1837 [1834-1847]: 290, pl. 37 figs 4-9 [5 June 1837; text 6 May 1838].

Scutalus thamnoicus ; Breure 1975b: 1144, pl. 4 fig. 1.

Type locality.

"Var. A. [Not given]. Var. B. [Not given]. Var. C. Cavari (republica Boliviana). Var. D. provincia Chuquisacensi (republica Boliviana)"; see remarks and Breure 1973: 123.

Label.

"Var. A. Palca d’ayupaya Bolivia", "Var. B. Cochabamba, Bolivia", "Var. C. Cavari, Bolivia", "Var. D chuquisaca Bolivia", all in d’Orbigny’s handwriting.

Dimensions.

"Longit. a 45 ad 80 millim.; latit. a 22 ad 39 millim.", corrected in d’Orbigny 1837 [1834-1847] to: "Long. ex 25 ad 65 millim.; lat. ex. 15 ad 35 millim."; figured specimen herein H 44.0, D 25.3, W 6.8.

Type material.

NHMUK 1854.12.4.111, five paralectotypes "var. A."; 1854.12.4.109, six paralectotypes "var. B."; 1854.12.4.107, four paralectotypes [var. B]; 1854.12.4.110, nine syntypes "var. C."; 1854.12.4.108, lectotype (design. n.) and four paralectotypes "var. D." (all material d’Orbigny coll.).

Remarks.

d’Orbigny’s varieties have proven to belong to different species, already noticed by Pilsbry (1897 [1897-1898]) and Richardson (1995), although they disagreed on the specific assignments of the four varieties. Breure (1975b) mentioned only material pertaining to the varieties A and B in the Paris museum; however, also material corresponding to variety D is available in this collection (Breure, unpublished data). The data presented in d’Orbigny 1837-1838 [1834-1847], together with the material of both the NHMUK and MNHN collections, are used here to resolve this complicated issue.

Var. A. " Magna, reticulata " (pl. 37 figs 4-5) is recorded from ”près de Palca, capitale de la province d’Ayupaya” [Dept. Cochabamba, Indepencia; see Breure 1973: 133, fig. 6] and "Longueur, 45 millimètres”. The lectotype (MNHN 23258) has a shell height of 47.7 mm; the largest specimen in NHMUK labelled "var. A" has shell height 44 mm. The name thamnoica d’Orbigny is restricted to this variety.

Var. B. " Magna, crassa, striata " (pl. 37 fig. 7) is listed from "environs de Capiñata [Dept. La Paz]" and from ”vallée de Cochabamba (...) principalement à Viloma. Longueur, 65 millimètres”; see Breure 1973: 133, figs 6-7. The largest specimen in lot NHMUK 1854.12.4.109 measures 52.7 mm in height ( Fig. 68B ); note that there is also material without variety designation (1854.12.4.107), of which the largest specimen has a shell height of 61.5 mm. This variety is considered to be identical with Bulimus alauda Hupé, 1857.

Var. C. " Minor, fasciata " (pl. 37 fig. 8) has been found at "les coteaux du bourg de Cavari", near the top of the mountains; see Breure 1973: 129, fig. 7. "Longueur, 25 millimètres”. The largest specimen in NHMUK has dimensions H 32.2, D 19.0, W 6.3. This variety was considered a synonym of Bulimus revinctus Hupé, 1857 by both Pilsbry (1897 [1897-1898]) and Richardson (1995). We consider this variety as Bulimus gayi Pfeiffer, 1857.

Var. D. " Marmorata " (pl. 37 fig. 9) was collected "aux environs de la ville de Chuquisaca"; see Breure 1973: 130, fig. 4. No shell height was given by d’Orbigny. The largest NHMUK specimen, corresponding to d’Orbigny’s figure, has dimensions H 40.8, D 23.1, W 6.2 ( Fig. 68C ). Three specimens are present in Paris (MNHN 23261), of which the largest one with dimensions H 45.3, D 23.9, W 6.7. Pilsbry (1897 [1897-1898]) regarded var. D as synonymous with Bulimus alauda Hupé, 1857; Richardson (1995) synonymyzed it with Bulimus revinctus Hupé, 1857. The types of both species have not been located, leaving only the possibility to check against Hupe’s figures (1857: pl. 7 fig. 3 resp. pl. 7 fig. 2), in which case we concur with Pilsbry’s view.

Current systematic position.

Bulimulidae , Kuschelenia (Kuschelenia) species. See under remarks.

Figures

Figure 68. Kuschelenia species. A Kuschelenia (Kuschelenia) thamnoica (d'Orbigny, 1835), paralectotype NHMUK 1854.12.4.111 (H = 44.0) B-C Kuschelenia (Kuschelenia) alauda Hupe, 1857 B paralectotype of Helix thamnoica var. B d'Orbigny 1835 NHMUK 1854.12.4.109 (H = 52.7) C lectotype of Helix thamnoica var. D d'Orbigny 1835 NHMUK 1854.12.4.108 (H = 40.8) D-E Kuschelenia (Kuschelenia) tupacii (d'Orbigny, 1835), paralectotype NHMUK 1854.12.4.113 (H = 76.0). All enlarged.

Figure L 60. Labels. i Bulimus terebralis Pfeiffer, 1842 ii Helix thamnoica d'Orbigny, 1835 iii Helix torallyi d'Orbigny, 1835 iv Bulimulus (Drymaeus) tigrinus da Costa, 1898 v Bulimus transparens Reeve, 1849 vi Helix trichoda d'Orbigny, 1835.