Redescription of Potamolithus paranensis (Pilsbry, 1911) and Potamolithus simplex (Pilsbry, 1911) (Gastropoda: Tateidae)

ABSTRACT

Potamolithus Pilsbry & Rush, 1896 is a species-rich genus, endemic to South America, with many of its species considered Vulnerable due to a restricted distribution; half of them are called into question, since they are known only from their shells. The purpose of this article is to describe the anatomy of P. paranensis (Pilsbry, 1911) and P. simplex (Pilsbry, 1911) from the Argentinean Misiones province, and to evaluate the value of anatomical features in this genus. These two species differ in penis morphology and pigmentation, ctenidium length, and relative position of the opening of the pallial oviduct, seminal receptacle and bursa copulatrix. Consequently, it appears that anatomical data could help solve taxonomic conflicts that are currently unresolved by shell morphology alone.

KEYWORDS:

• Anatomy
• Argentina
• freshwater snails
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Drs Carla Cazorla and Analia Díaz for English editing. Furthermore, I am particularly grateful to Dr W. Ponder and an anonymous reviewer whose comments helped greatly improve this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Project N727).