ENDODONTIDAE Pilsbry

Vermeulen, Jaap J., Liew, Thor-Seng & Schilthuizen, Menno, 2015, Additions to the knowledge of the land snails of Sabah (Malaysia, Borneo), including 48 new species, ZooKeys 531, pp. 1-139 : 48-49

Taxon classification Animalia Stylommatophora Endodontidae

Family ENDODONTIDAE Pilsbry

Short description.

Snails. Shell small to medium-sized, dextral, conical, lenticular, or discoidal. Sculpture often rather distinct, consisting of spiral striation and/or radial ribs, sculpture sometimes inconspicuous or absent. Aperture with or without teeth or lamellae, peristome neither thickened nor reflected. Umbilicus closed or open, narrow or wide (Family description adapted from Solem 1976; Schileyko 2001).

Habitat and distribution.

Generally found in litter and on the vegetation. Worldwide, but particularly species-rich on the islands of and around the Pacific.

Remarks.

The status of several genera often included in this family, including the ones we discuss here ( Philalanka and Thysanota ), has been debated. Raheem et al. (2014) follow Godwin-Austen (1907) in placing these two genera in the Thysanotinae and follow Bouchet and Rocroi (2005) in placing this subfamily in the Charopidae , whereas we have here retained the endodontid placement of Godwin-Austen (1907).

The endodontid genera Philalanka and Thysanota generally include small species with more or less conical shells, and often with one or more distinct spiral threads. Particularly Philalanka displays a wide range of shell shapes, which makes it impossible to find a diagnostic set that unequivocally distinguishes between the genera. However, we feel that including Philalanka , Kaliella and the various satellite genera into a single genus would be unjustified. This is in spite of the fact that we are in favour of genera of convenience, by necessity because in most cases our taxonomy is largely based on shells. The best we can do is to compare groups within Philalanka with groups within Kaliella which share one or two characters.

We provide a review of the Sabah species of the Endodontidae .