The family Plectopylidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) in Laos with the description of two new genera and a new species

Abstract

Previously only a single plectopylid species, Helix laomontana L. Pfeiffer, 1862 was reported from Laos. Here we erect Naggsia Páll-Gergely & Muratov, gen. n. for Helix laomontana based on the description of its reproductive anatomy and radula. Another species, Hunyadiscus saurini Páll-Gergely, gen. & sp. n. is described from Northern Laos based on conchological data. Helix (Plectopylis) andersoni Blanford, 1869, which is known from the Burmese-Chinese border region, is also classified within Hunyadiscus Páll-Gergely, gen. n. A third species, Gudeodiscus (Gudeodiscus) messageri raheemi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2015 is reported from Laos for the first time. The new localities represent the westernmost sites of the genus Gudeodiscus. The reproductive anatomy of the latter species is described.

First record of subterranean rissoidean gastropod assemblages in Southeast Asia (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pomatiopsidae)

“…Bole and Velkovrh (1986) mentioned only one subterranean species from South Asia that was recorded in Sri Lanka (Srilankiella horanae Bole & Velkovrh, 1986, nomen nudum according Kabat and Hershler 1993) and 12 probable pomatiopsid taxa from Japan belonging to the genera Akiyoshia Kuroda & Habe, 1954, Cochliopopsis Mori, 1938 and Moria Kuroda & Habe, 1958. Despite the recent increased interest in South and East Asian terrestrial micromolluscs (Maassen 2008, Culver 2012, Páll-Gergely 2014, Páll-Gergely et al 2015, Inkhavilay et al 2016, Páll-Gergely et al 2016, Páll-Gergely et al 2017, our knowledge of the stygobiont gastropod fauna of the region has not advanced significantly since 1986. Despite the extraordinary high radiation of surface freshwater Pomatiopsidae Bourguignat, 1863, species of the tribe Triculini Annandale, 1924 in the Mekong tributary (Deshayes and Jullien 1876;Crosse and Fischer 1879;Annandale 1919;Brandt 1968Brandt , 1970Brandt , 1974Davis 1979, Temcharoen 1971Brandt and Temcharoen 1974;Strong et al 2007), the troglobiont and stygobiont species of the area remained unknown.…”

Annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs from Laos (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

“…No material of this species was found, and only the type specimens were examined. For the current interpretation of Pa Hia, see Páll-Gergely et al (2016: 13).…”

“…In addition, land snail collections by the German orchid collector Carl Roebelen from “Boloven” which included 13 new species were studied and published by Möllendorff (1898). About 50 years later, the French geologist, Edmund Saurin (1953) examined land snails from Pa Hia, Tran Ninh Province [probably refers to Ban Namthong, Longchaeng District, Xaisomboun Province, Laos; see Páll-Gergely et al (2016: 13)] and described nine new species, which brought the diversity of land snails in Laos to 64 nominal species. Another fifty years later, Panha et al (2002), Lehmann and Maassen (2004) and Maassen (2008) studied a range of land snails from various parts of Laos, recording five new taxa.…”

“…Another fifty years later, Panha et al (2002), Lehmann and Maassen (2004) and Maassen (2008) studied a range of land snails from various parts of Laos, recording five new taxa. The most recent treatments on Laotian land snails are from Inkhavilay et al (2016a, b, 2017) and Páll-Gergely et al (2016, 2017b).…”

Systematic revision of the Plectopylinae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Plectopylidae)

“…Chersaecia austeni -Páll-Gergely et al 2015c: 10. Gude, 1899, Hunyadiscus Páll-Gergely, 2016 and Naggsia Páll-Gergely & Muratov, 2016.…”