GENUS
DIAPHERA ALBERS, 1850
View in CoL
Type species:
Cylindrella cumingiana Pfeiffer, 1845
, by original designation; lectotype BMNH 20080230 ( Fig. 1A
View Figure 1
); type locality: the Philippines (‘in grass, Guimaras, the
Philippines’
, given on original label).
Diagnosis: Shell ovate to cylindrical, thin, transparent, and glossy, surface smooth or sculptured; apex obtuse, surface smooth, subsequent whorls smooth or with radial ribs; part of last whorl always detached; aperture circular to ovate; lip expanded and slightly reflexed; apertural dentition usually comprised of parietal, palatal, basal, and columellar lamellae. Radula plate narrow; teeth lanceolate, central tooth minute, lateral and marginal teeth similar with long cusp. Genitalia with well-developed penis; penial sheath, verge, and spines are absent.
Remarks:
Diaphera
currently includes 39 nominal species that range from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines to Kalimantan ( Blanford, 1899; Bruggen, 1975; Richardson, 1988; Vermeulen, 1990; Schileyko, 2000). In Thailand
Diaphera
can be distinguished conchologically from similar genera such as
Sinoennea
(with six to seven whorls) by possessing a greater number (eight to 20) of more elongate, cylindrical whorls; partially detached last whorl and ovate aperture ( Tryon, 1885; Zilch, 1960; Richardson, 1988; Schileyko, 2000).
Diaphera
View in CoL
was treated as a subgenus of
Gibbus Montfort, 1810
View in CoL
by Tryon (1885) and of
Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856
View in CoL
by Thiele (1931). Zilch (1960) subsequently treated
Diaphera
View in CoL
as a distinct genus. Richardson (1988) placed 46 species from the Philippines and Indochina in
Diaphera
View in CoL
. However, Richardson’s inclusion of the two pupiform Madagascan species,
Gulella miaryi ( Fischer-Piette & Bedoucha, 1964)
View in CoL
and
Gulella gallora ( Fischer-Piette, Blanc & Salvat, 1975)
, both of which lack a detached last whorl, seems unjustified (see Fischer-Piette & Bedoucha, 1964; Fischer-Piette et al., 1975). The Madagascan taxa are likely to be part of or allied to the
Gulella
View in CoL
group. Eight cylindrically shelled species from the Philippines
Ennea sericina Möllendorff (1887)
,
Ennea hidalgoi Möllendorff, 1888
View in CoL
,
Ennea cardiostoma Quadras & Möllendorff, 1894
,
Ennea nitidula Quadras & Möllendorff, 1894
,
Ennea otostoma Quadras & Möllendorff, 1894
,
Ennea cylindrica Quadras & Möllendorff, 1895
View in CoL
,
Ennea cristatella Möllendorff, 1896
, and
Ennea samarica Möllendorff, 1896
were placed in
Diaphera
View in CoL
by Zilch (1961) and Richardson (1988). However, these taxa lack a partially detached last whorl and are thus more likely to be related to
Ennea
View in CoL
H. & A. Adams, 1855. Richardson (1988) followed Kobelt (1904) and Blanford & Godwin- Austen (1908) in placing
Ennea brevicollis Blanford, 1899
in
Sinoennea
View in CoL
, but this species possesses a multiwhorled turriform shell with detached body whorl and belongs in
Diaphera
View in CoL
(Table 2).