Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi Pall-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2015

Pall-Gergely, Barna, Muratov, Igor V. & Asami, Takahiro, 2016, The family Plectopylidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) in Laos with the description of two new genera and a new species, ZooKeys 592, pp. 1-26 : 3-5

Taxon classification Animalia Pulmonata Plectopylidae

Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi Pall-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2015 Figures 1C, 2B, 5 G–H, 6, 9 D–G

Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi 2015a Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi , - Páll-Gergely et al., ZooKeys 473: 38-40, Figures 5D, 5E, 10A, 12 R–V, 20, 28E, 29 F–G, 31B, 35 D–F.

Material examined.

11L06 Laos, Luang Prabang Province, ca. 18 km SE of Muang Xiang Ngeun, on the left side of Nam Khan, limestone, black soil in limestone pockets, clay, under rocks and logs in old forest, 455 m a.s.l., 19°40.931'N, 102°19.743'E, leg. A. Abdou & I.V. Muratov, 30.10.2006, MNHN 2012-27054/38 shells (some of them are broken/juvenile) + anatomically examined specimen (Figs 1C, 2B, 5 G–H, 6, 9 D–G); 12L06 Laos, Luang Prabang Province, ca. 17 km SE of Muang Xiang Ngeun, on the left side of Nam Khan, limestone, black soil in limestone pockets, clay, under rocks and logs in old forest, 385 m a.s.l., 19°41.201'N, 102°19.197'E, leg. A. Abdou & I.V. Muratov, 30.10.2006, MNHN 2012-27055/21 shells (some of them are broken/juvenile); 34L06 Laos, Luang Prabang Province, ca. 6 km N of Phou Khoun, limestone, clay, under rocks in dry secondary forest under and above cliff, 1244 m a.s.l., 19°29.653'N, 102°24.470'E, leg. A. Abdou & I.V. Muratov, 16.11.2006, MNHN 2012-27056/11 shells (some of them are broken/juvenile); Laos, Vientiane Province, Tam Chang, Vang Vieng, leg. Pongrat Dumrongrojwattana, 11.06.2009., PGB/1, WM/1.

Reproductive anatomy.

A single living specimen collected in Laos, was killed by drowning and was stored in 70 % ethanol. A part of the body was extracted from the shell and was examined anatomically. The inner parts of the genitalia, such as the gametolytic sac, the diverticulum and the spermoviduct could not be extracted.

The reproductive anatomy of Gudeodiscus messageri raheemi was figured in the original description ( Páll-Gergely et al. 2015a). The two anatomically examined Vietnamese specimens differed from each other mainly in the length of the penial caecum. The Laotian specimen possesses a short caecum, similar to one of the Vietnamese specimens. The length of the caecum probably has minor taxonomic value because it varies considerably within species (see also Gudeodiscus phlyarius in Páll-Gergely et al. 2015a). The inner wall of the epiphallus of the Vietnamese specimens had three, rather low, longitudinal folds. In contrast, the Laotian specimen had a single thickened fold internally.

Remarks.

Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi was described from Vietnam, where it inhabits the provinces Ninh Bình, Thanh Hóa, Sơn La, Hòa Bình and Nghệ An. The Laotian specimens agreed in shell morphology with the Vietnamese specimens. The new Laotian localities of Gudeodiscus messageri raheemi represent the westernmost record of the genus (Figure 14).

Ecology.

This taxon inhabits primary or old secondary broad-leaved forests, in the humid microenvironments under leaves, logs, limestone rocks and in black soil accumulated inside limestone pockets. The live collected specimen co-occured with Garnieria mouhoti (L. Pfeiffer, 1862), a well-known species that is also associated with the moderate humidity of broad-leaved forests (Figure 12).