Satsuma meridionalis (Moellendorff, 1884) Moellendorff, 1884

Wang, Pei, Xiao, Qiong, Zhou, Wei-Chuan & Hwang, Chung-Chi, 2014, Revision of three camaenid and one bradybaenid species (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) from China based on morphological and molecular data, with description of a new bradybaenid subspecies from Inner Mongolia, China, ZooKeys 372, pp. 1-16 : 5-6

Satsuma meridionalis (Moellendorff, 1884) comb. n. Figs 2B; 3B; 4B

Helix fortunei var. meridionalis Moellendorff, 1884: 327, pl. 7, fig. 5.

Helix (Dorcasia) fortunei var. meridionalis, Tryon, 1887: 208, pl. 47, fig. 51.

Helix (Euhadra) fortunei var. meridionalis, Pilsbry, 1890: pl. 15, figs 69-70.

Eulota (Eulota) fortunei var. meridionalis, Pilsbry, 1895: 204.

Bradybaena fortunei meridionalis Yen, 1939: 134, pl. 13, fig. 66.

Bradybaena fortunei submeridionalis Zilch, 1951: 86; Zilch, 1968: 183.

Bradybaena (Bradybaena) fortunei Richardson, 1983: 27; Wu, 1999: 83-84, pl. 7B; Chen and Zhang 2004: 145-146, fig. 111.

Type locality.

Luofu Mountain, Guangdong (23°16'03"N, 114°03'37"E), China.

Materials examined.

Luofu Mountain, Lectotype (SMF 9155), paralectotype (SMF 9156); Luofu Mountain, Guangdong (Nov. 3, 2010, 23°16'03"N, 114°03'37"E; FJIQBC 18407-18416).

Shell.

Sinistral,medium sized; about 11.0 mm in height, 15.2 mm in width, thin but solid, yellowish-brown in color, depressed conic; 5 1/2 whorls. Surface with dense growth lines and weak spiral lines. Spire slightly low conical, slowly increasing, slightly convex. Body whorl fast expanding, quite convex. With slight, slender and dull red band on periphery of body whorl for most specimens. Periphery bluntly angulated. Aperture descending and elliptical. Peristome thin, sharp, slightly reflected. Inner lip with thin callus. Columellar lip short, reflected, slightly covering umbilicus. Umbilicus deep, round, and about 1/5 of width of shell.

Reproductive system.

Penis thick and short, with an expanded base. Penial caecum short. Epiphallus slender, about 2/3 of length of penis. Flagellum short and small, about 1/10 of length of epiphallus. Penis retractor muscle thick and wide. Vas deferens long and slender. Oviduct thin. Vagina longer than penis, expanding at posterior end. Pedunculus of bursa copulatrix expanding at base. Bursa copulatrix oval.

Ecology.

The species usually lives in the wet bushes and grass near farmland, especially on limestone cliffs and in cracks with more humus, or under rotten branches and fallen leaves; occasionally within human settlements. This snail is sensitive to low temperature, aestivates from November to March. Animals often feed on all kinds of crops, especially tender shoot and leaf.

Remark.

Originallyit was described as variety of Helix fortunei (Pfeiffer, 1850) for its uniformly yellowish-corneous color and globularly conic shell shape. Subsequently, Yen (1939) treated it as the subspecies Bradybaena fortunei meridionalis . However, Chen and Zhang (2004) rejected the subspecies arrangement and syonymized the name meriodionalis with Bradybaena fortunei . In the current study, we dissected the genitalia of the species, revealing lack of dart sac and mucus gland. Therefore, the species is now recognized as Satsuma meridionalis according to shell features, characters of genitalia and the molecular phylogeny (Fig. 5). We are unable to address the systematic relationships with Bradybaena (Bradybaena) fortunei from Shanghai for the lack of suitable material.