Palaina kitteli, Neubert, Eike & Bouchet, Philippe, 2015

Neubert, Eike & Bouchet, Philippe, 2015, The Diplommatinidae of Fiji - a hotspot of Pacific land snail biodiversity (Caenogastropoda, Cyclophoroidea), ZooKeys 487, pp. 1-85 : 46-48

Taxon classification Animalia Mesogastropoda Diplommatinidae

Palaina kitteli sp. n. Figs 104-106

Type material.

Holotype MNHN IM-2000-27457, paratypes MNHN/169 IM-2000-27458, NMBE 516863/20. - Viti Levu, Wailotua karst, 50-80 m, rainforest, -17.7582 178.4166, leg. Bouchet, 25-27.08.1998.

Material.

Viti Levu, Waivisa karst, 50-80 m, rainforest, -17.6879 178.4033, leg. Bouchet, 27.08.1998, MNHN/77, NMBE 516900/15.

Etymology.

This species is dedicated to Klaus Kittel, who sorted the micro land snails from the Fiji leaf litter, and recognized the extent of the diplommatinid radiation.

Diagnosis.

Shell sinistral, small, yellowish, bulb laterally compressed, oblique to the shell’s axis, columella obliquely twisted, with a basal lamellar callus.

Description.

Shell sinistral, small, oval, whitish to yellowish; protoconch acute, granulated; last whorl not constricted, ascending; bulb well developed, laterally compressed, oblique to the shell’s axis with a deep basal depression; suture very deep, whorls well rounded; umbilicus closed, periomphalum narrow; sculpture of teleoconch whorls with widely spaced ribs, ribbing pattern denser on the last 1.5 whorls; aperture circular, with a double lip, adhered to the last whorl, but parietal callus slightly detaching; oblique view into the aperture revealing a strong columellaris; internally, columella obliquely twisted, truncate in the lower half forming a basal lamellar callus, parietum with a very long parietalis in front of the bulb; a strong bulb lamella present.

Operculum corneous, flat, smooth, with a small apophysis, OD = 0.47.

Measurements.

Holotype (Fig. 104): H = 2.51; D = 1.39; PH = 0.94; PD = 1.02; W = 6.5.

Distribution

(Fig. 170). eastern area of Viti Levu.

Remarks.

Palaina kitteli sp. n. is unique in having an almost lamellar bulb, which is well rounded in all other species, particularly in Palaina tuberosissima , which is otherwise very close in many other shell characters. The latter species differs by its spatulate parietalis, and its bifid columellaris.