Two new species of Thaumastus (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Orthalicidae: Bulimulinae) from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

. (T.) caetensis is also closer to Thaumastus (T.) baixoguanduensis but can be distinguished by thesmaller dimensions (height, width and number of protoconch whorls), the lack of a transversal light band on the body whorl, the jaw with smaller number of plates, and the radula with 35 teeth. In the soft parts, this new species differs also in the number of follicle gatherings in ovotestis, fertilization complex with globose shape, and penian retractor muscle terminally and laterally attached to flagellum.

Range extension of Thaumastus caetensis Pena, Salgado and Coelho, 2011 (Gastropoda: Orthalicidae: Bulimulinae) in the highlands of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

“…In this subfamily, Thaumastus Albers, 1860 is a South American genus of land snails represented by six subgenera: Thaumastus s.s., T. (Scholvienia), T. (Kara), T. (Quechua) and T. (Atahualpa) described by Strebel (1910), and T. (Thaumastiella) described by Weyrauch (1956). The only subgenus recorded in Brazil is Thaumastus (Breure 1979), with 31 species, which has been studied by several authors in the last years (Jurberg et al 1979(Jurberg et al , 1988Barros et al 1991;Pena et al 1996Pena et al , 2005Pena et al , 2011. In the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, there are records for four species that are associated to limestone outcrops or mountain tops (Pena et al 2005(Pena et al , 2011.…”

“…The only subgenus recorded in Brazil is Thaumastus (Breure 1979), with 31 species, which has been studied by several authors in the last years (Jurberg et al 1979(Jurberg et al , 1988Barros et al 1991;Pena et al 1996Pena et al , 2005Pena et al , 2011. In the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, there are records for four species that are associated to limestone outcrops or mountain tops (Pena et al 2005(Pena et al , 2011. T h a u m a s t u s (Thaumastus) caetensis Pena, Salgado and Coelho, 2011 (Figure 1) is a recently described species (Pena et al 2011) known solely from its type locality in the Serra da Piedade (19°49'19" S,43°40'46" W), Caeté municipality, southern Espinhaço Range, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.…”

“…In the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, there are records for four species that are associated to limestone outcrops or mountain tops (Pena et al 2005(Pena et al , 2011. T h a u m a s t u s (Thaumastus) caetensis Pena, Salgado and Coelho, 2011 (Figure 1) is a recently described species (Pena et al 2011) known solely from its type locality in the Serra da Piedade (19°49'19" S,43°40'46" W), Caeté municipality, southern Espinhaço Range, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This species is restricted to "campos rupestres" vegetation (see Vasconcelos 2011), usually above 1,400 m above sea level.…”

“…Finally, we stress that it is important to avoid confusion of this rare species to the exotic and invader Achatina fulica, the African land snail, which is usually larger. Nevertheless, the identification should always be based on the species diagnosis (Pena et al 2011). …”