A review of the Alycaeidae of the Philippines with descriptions of new species and subspecies (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoroidea)

ABSTRACT

The family Alycaeidae of the Philippines is revised based on the collections of the Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) and the Florida Museum of Natural History (Gainesville, USA). Five species of Metalycaeus are recognised in Luzon Island, including Metalycaeus semperi n. sp., which was found in a mixed lot with M. caroli (Semper, 1862). One new species and a subspecies of Chamalycaeus are described from Palawan as follows: Chamalycaeus excisus sublimus n. subsp. and Chamalycaeus rarus n. sp. The biogeographical relevance of our results is discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Systematics
• taxonomy
• Wallace’s line
• Huxley’s line
• biogeography

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Sigrid Hof and Ronald Janssen for granting access to the collection of the SMF in their care, to Ambros Hänggi (NHMB), John Slapcinsky (UF) for sending museum specimens for examination, and to Frank Köhler and an anonymous reviewer for commenting in the manuscript. This study was supported by the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Premium Post Doctorate Research Program for BPG. The non-marine mollusc survey of Palawan Province conducted by the Florida Museum of Natural History was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Environmental Biology (DEB-8519456). We are indebted to The Biodiversity Heritage Library for the wealth of rare literature made available to us (www.biodiversitylibrary.org).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Premium Post Doctorate Research Program for BPG. The non-marine mollusc survey of Palawan Province conducted by the Florida Museum of Natural History was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Environmental Biology (DEB-8519456).