Sinochloritis Wu & Chen

Wu, Min, Chen, Zheyu & Zhu, Xiaoran, 2019, Two new camaenid land snails (Eupulmonata) from Central China, ZooKeys 861, pp. 129-144 : 131-132

Sinochloritis Wu & Chen gen. nov.

Type species.

Sinochloritis lii Wu & Chen, gen. & sp. nov.

Diagnosis.

Adult shell smooth. Shell evenly covered with fine granules throughout. Dart sac apparatus absent. Penis sheath absent. Highly developed epiphallic papilla present. Penial caecum absent. Epiphallus-binding muscle connecting proximal epiphallus to distal end of penis. Flagellum present.

Description.

Shell depressed. Whorls convex. Suture rather impressed. Protoconch and teleoconch densely and evenly covered with fine granules. Adult shell not hairy or scaly. Peristome abruptly angulated at top; narrowly and uniformly reflexed. Shell glossy; uniformly colored; not banded.

Genitalia. Penis sheath absent. Penis externally simple; internally with several pilasters. Epiphallus internally with a large epiphallic papilla that enters penis; externally with proximal part connected with distal end of penis by strong muscles (epiphallus-binding muscles). Flagellum present. Vas deferens uniformly thin.

Etymology.

This new genus is named after “sino” (=China) and “chloritis” (the genus used to include many Chinese Trichochloritis species).

Distribution.

Sichuan Province.

Remarks.

Compared to Trichochloritis , Yakuchloritis , Neochloritis and Nipponochloritis (Table 1), the new genus exhibits distinct genital features that justify recognition of a new generic rank. Many Chinese species mentioned above, i.e., the species in Trichochloritis , possess general similarity in shell morphology but placement within genera requires evidence from either, or both, reproductive morphology and molecular data.