Register      Login
Invertebrate Systematics Invertebrate Systematics Society
Systematics, phylogeny and biogeography
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A revision of eastern Australian land snails placed in Nitor Gude (Helicarionidae, Stylommatophora)

Isabel T. Hyman A B and Frank Köhler A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: Isabel.Hyman@austmus.gov.au

Invertebrate Systematics 32(5) 1171-1205 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS18015
Submitted: 23 February 2018  Accepted: 17 May 2018   Published: 15 October 2018

Abstract

Nitor Gude, 1911 is a genus of helicarionid land snails currently comprising eight species ranging from southern New South Wales to northern Queensland. We comprehensively revise the taxonomy of this group based on comparative morphology and on mitochondrial genes cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and 16S rRNA, provide a new generic diagnosis, revise species descriptions and describe four new species. Two species, ‘N.’ reisi Stanisic, 2010 from northern Queensland and ‘N.’ whitneyae Stnaisic, 2010 from mid-eastern Queensland, are removed from Nitor. Revised species descriptions are given for N. subrugatus (Reeve, 1852), N. medioximus Iredale, 1941, N. circumcinctus (Cox, 1868), N. wiangariensis Hyman, 2007 and N. pudibundus (Cox, 1868); N. helmsianus Iredale, 1941 (previously considered a synonym of N. subrugatus) is reinstated; and new species N. glenugie, N. sheai, N. benjamini and N. pipinna are described. Helix graftonensis Cox, 1864 is synonymised with N. subrugatus. We demonstrate that Nitor is closely related to Lord Howe Island taxa Epiglypta Pilsbry, 1893, Gudeoconcha Iredale, 1944, Howearion Iredale, 1944 and Parmellops Iredale, 1944; the five genera are united by a combination of characters including the presence of a distinct vagina, a slender epiphallic flagellum forming a simple spermatophore and an epiphallic caecum with terminal attachment of the penial retractor muscle.

Additional keywords: comparative morphology, mitochondrial DNA, systematics, taxonomy.


References

Arctander, P. (1995). Comparison of a mitochondrial gene and a corresponding nuclear pseudogene. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 262, 13–19.
Comparison of a mitochondrial gene and a corresponding nuclear pseudogene.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Castresana, J. (2000). Selection of conserved blocks from multiple alignments for their use in phylogenetic analysis. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17, 540–552.
Selection of conserved blocks from multiple alignments for their use in phylogenetic analysis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Cox, J. C. (1864). ‘Catalogue of the Specimens of the Australian Land-shells in the Collection of James C. Cox.’ (John Alex Engel: Sydney, NSW.)

Cox, J. C. (1865). Descriptions of four new species of Australian land shells. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864, 594–596.

Cox, J. C. (1868). ‘A Monograph of Australian Land Shells.’ (Maddock: Sydney.)

Dartnall, A. J., and Kershaw, R. C. (1978). Description of a new species of Helicarion (Stylommatophora: Helicarionidae) in Tasmania. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum Launceston 62, 1–18.

Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R., and Vrijenhoek, R. (1994). DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3, 294–299.

Gabriel, C. J. (1930). Catalogue of the land shells of Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 43, 62–88.

Gude, G. K. (1911). Note on some preoccupied molluscan generic names and proposed new genera of the family Zonitidae. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 9, 269–273.

Harrison, R. G., Howard, D. J., and Berlocher, S. H. (1998). Linking evolutionary pattern and process. The relevance of species concepts for the study of speciation. In ‘Endless Forms. Species and Speciation’. pp. 19–31. (Oxford University press: New York, NY.)

Hedley, C. (1888). A list of the land shells recorded from Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 5, 45–70.

Hennig, W. (1966). ‘Phylogenetic Systematics.’ (University of Illinois Press: Urbana, IL.)

Hörandl, E. (2006). Paraphyletic versus monophyletic taxa – evolutionary versus cladistic classifications. Taxon 55, 564–570.
Paraphyletic versus monophyletic taxa – evolutionary versus cladistic classifications.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T. (2007). Three new genera and five new species of Helicarionidae from southeastern Australia (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora: Helicarionoidea). Molluscan Research 27, 89–104.

Hyman, I. T., and Köhler, F. (2017). Attenborougharion gen. nov. (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Helicarionidae): a likely case of convergent evolution in southeastern Tasmania. Records of the Australian Museum 69, 65–72.
Attenborougharion gen. nov. (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Helicarionidae): a likely case of convergent evolution in southeastern Tasmania.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T., and Köhler, F. (2018a). Reconciling comparative anatomy and mitochondrial phylogenetics in revising species limits in the Australian semislug Helicarion Férussac, 1821 (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , .
Reconciling comparative anatomy and mitochondrial phylogenetics in revising species limits in the Australian semislug Helicarion Férussac, 1821 (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T., and Köhler, F. (2018b). Revision of Sigaloeista Shea & Griffiths, 2010 (Helicarionidae, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) from eastern Australia. Molluscan Research , .
Revision of Sigaloeista Shea & Griffiths, 2010 (Helicarionidae, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) from eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T., and Ponder, W. F. (2010). A morphological phylogenetic analysis and generic revision of Australian Helicarionidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Stylommatophora), and an assessment of the relationships of the family. Zootaxa 2462, 1–148.

Hyman, I. T., and Ponder, W. F. (2016). Helicarionidae (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Stylommatophora) of Lord Howe Island. Molluscan Research 36, 84–107.
Helicarionidae (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Stylommatophora) of Lord Howe Island.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T., Ho, Y. W. S., and Jermiin, L. S. (2007). Molecular phylogeny of Australian Helicarionidae, Euconulidae and related groups (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) based on mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45, 792–812.
Molecular phylogeny of Australian Helicarionidae, Euconulidae and related groups (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) based on mitochondrial DNA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hyman, I. T., Lamborena, I. I., and Köhler, F. (2017). Molecular phylogenetics and systematic revision of the south-eastern Australian Helicarionidae (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Contributions to Zoology 86, 51–95.

ICZN (1999). ‘International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 4th Edition.’ (The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature: London.)

Iredale, T. (1937). A basic list of the land Mollusca of Australia. Part II. Australian Zoologist 9, 1–39.

Iredale, T. (1941). Guide to the land shells of New South Wales – part III. The Australian Naturalist 11, 1–8.

Kalyaanamoorthy, S., Minh, B. Q., Wong, T. K. F., von Haeseler, A., and Jermiin, L. S. (2017). ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates. Nature Methods 14, 587–589.
ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Katoh, K., Misawa, K., Kuma, K., and Miyata, T. (2002). MAFFT: a novel method for rapid multiple sequence alignment based on fast Fourier transform. Nucleic Acids Research 30, 3059–3066.
MAFFT: a novel method for rapid multiple sequence alignment based on fast Fourier transform.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kershaw, R. C. (1979). Redescription of Helicarion cuvieri from southern Tasmania and Helicarion freycineti from New South Wales (Pulmonata: Helicarionidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 4, 145–156.

Kershaw, R. C. (1981). Redescription of the genus Helicarion and of Helicarion niger (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) from Victoria (Stylommatophora: Helicarionidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 5, 17–31.

Köhler, F. (2011). The camaenid species of the Kimberley Islands, Western Australia (Stylommatophora: Helicoidea). Malacologia 54, 203–406.
The camaenid species of the Kimberley Islands, Western Australia (Stylommatophora: Helicoidea).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Köhler, F., and Criscione, F. (2015). A molecular phylogeny of camaenid land snails from north-western Australia unravels widespread homoplasy in morphological characters (Gastropoda, Helicoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83, 44–55.
A molecular phylogeny of camaenid land snails from north-western Australia unravels widespread homoplasy in morphological characters (Gastropoda, Helicoidea).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kumar, S., Stecher, G., and Tamura, K. (2016). MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Molecular Biology and Evolution 33, 1870–1874.
MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Martens, E. v., and Albers, J. C. (1860). ‘Die Heliceen, nach natürlicher Verwandtschaft systematisch geordnet. 2. Ausgabe.’ (Engelmann: Leipzig, Germany.)

Mayr, E., and Bock, W. J. (2002). Classifications and other ordering systems. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 40, 169–194.
Classifications and other ordering systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Minh, B. Q., Nguyen, M. A., and Von Haeseler, A. (2013). Ultrafast approximation for phylogenetic bootstrap. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30, 1188–1195.
Ultrafast approximation for phylogenetic bootstrap.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Nguyen, L.-T., Schmidt, H. A., von Haeseler, A., and Minh, B. Q. (2015). IQ-TREE: a fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies. Molecular Biology and Evolution 32, 268–274.
IQ-TREE: a fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Odhner, N. H. (1917). Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. XVII. Mollusca. Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 52, 1–115.

Pfeiffer, L., and Clessin, S. (1881). ‘Nomenclator Heliceorum Viventium.’ (Theodor Fischer: Kassel, Germany.)

Reeve, L. A. (1852). Monograph of the genus Helix. In ‘Conchologia Iconica. Vol. 7’. (Ed. L. A. Reeve.) pls 63–132, 134–146. (L. Reeve & Co.: London.)

Scott, B. (1995). Redescription of Fastosarion superba (Cox, 1871) with descriptions of two new species of Fastosarion from northern Queensland (Pulmonata: Helicarionidae). Molluscan Research 16, 69–80.
Redescription of Fastosarion superba (Cox, 1871) with descriptions of two new species of Fastosarion from northern Queensland (Pulmonata: Helicarionidae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Shimodaira, H., and Hasegawa, M. (1999). Multiple comparisons of log-likelihoods with applications to phylogenetic inference. Molecular Biology and Evolution 16, 1114–1116.
Multiple comparisons of log-likelihoods with applications to phylogenetic inference.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sites, J. W., and Marshall, J. C. (2004). Operational criteria for delimiting species. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics 35, 199–227.
Operational criteria for delimiting species.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Smith, B. J. (1992). Non-marine Mollusca. In ‘Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 8’. (Ed. W. W. K. Houston.) pp. 1–408. (Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra, ACT.)

Smith, B. J., Reid, S., and Ponder, W. F. (2002). Pulmonata. Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Available online at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/pulmonata [Viewed on 15 January 2018]. (ABRS: Canberra, ACT.)

Solem, A. (1982). Small land snails from Northern Australia, II. Species of Westracystis Iredale, 1939 (Mollusca: Pulmonata, Helicarionidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 5, 175–193.

Solem, A. (1988). Non-camaenid land snails of the Kimberley and Northern Territory, Australia. I. Affinities and ranges. Invertebrate Taxonomy 2, 455–604.
Non-camaenid land snails of the Kimberley and Northern Territory, Australia. I. Affinities and ranges.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Stamatakis, A. (2014). RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics 30, 1312–1313.
RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Stanisic, J. (1993a). The identity of Helicarion semoni Marten, 1894: a large semi-slug from the Wet Tropics, northeastern Queensland (Pulmonata: Helicarionidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 34, 1–9.

Stanisic, J. (1993b). Eungarion mcdonaldi gen. et sp. nov., a montane semi-slug from mideastern Queensland rainforests (Pulmonata: Helicarionidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 34, 27–34.

Stanisic, J. (1998). A new semi-slug from Tamborine Mountain, Southeastern Queensland (Mollusca: Eupulmonata: Helicarionidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42, 597–603.

Stanisic, J., Shea, M., Potter, D., and Griffiths, O. (2010). ‘Australian Land Snails. 1. A Field Guide to Eastern Australian Species.’ (Bioculture Press: Riviere des Anguilles, Mauritius.)

Stankowski, S. (2011). Extreme, continuous variation in an island snail: local diversification and association of shell form with the current environment. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Linnean Society of London 104, 756–769.
Extreme, continuous variation in an island snail: local diversification and association of shell form with the current environment.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tryon, G.W. (1885). Testacellidae, Oleacinidae, Streptaxidae, Helicoidea, Vitrinidae, Limacidae, Arionidae. In ‘Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species. Second Series’. pp. 1–364, pl. 60. (Philadelphia: Conchological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, PA.)