A new genus of Diplommatinidae from the Andaman Islands (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoroidea)

ABSTRACT

Examination of the syntypes of Pupa (Pupisoma) constrictus Godwin-Austen, 1895 revealed that this species does not belong to the eupulmonate Pupilloidea, but to the caenogastropod Diplommatinidae. Based on conchological characters it could not be placed to any of the existing diplommatinid genera, therefore a new genus, Moderata n. gen. is erected, which is characterised by a conical shell, a discontinuous aperture and most importantly, a conspicuous constriction half a whorl behind the aperture. Pupisoma bilamellatum Benthem Jutting, 1958 and P. unilamellatum Benthem Jutting, 1958 are moved to the assimineid genus Acmella W. T. Blanford, 1869.

KEYWORDS:

• Conchology
• taxonomy
• systematics
• Southeast Asia
• micro snail

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Jonathan Ablett (NHM) for granting access to the collection of the NHM in his care; to Kevin Webb (NHM) for the photos of Moderata constricta; to Ambros Hänggi (NMB) for the photographs of Acmella species; and to Ágnes Máté, Mariavittoria Modica and Attila Gonda for discussions about Latin nomenclature. Jaap Vermeulen and Frank Köhler commented on the manuscript. I am also indebted to The Biodiversity Heritage Library for the multitude of rare literature available to us (www.biodiversitylibrary.org).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Premium Post Doctorate Research Program and the SYNTHESYS Project (GB-TAF-2523).