Pterocyclos spaleotes
Creators: name: Sutcharit, Chirasak
name: Tongkerd, Piyoros
name: Panha, Somsak
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Architaenioglossa
Cyclophoridae
Pterocyclos
Pterocyclos spaleotes

description: <i>Pterocyclos spaleotes</i> (Tomlin, 1932) (Figs. 1, 2D, 3H <b>–</b> J; Table 1) <i>Rhiostoma spaleotes</i> Tomlin, 1932: 227, pl. 26 text figure. Type locality: In a hole in the rock just outside the Batu Caves, near Kula Lumpur, Selangor. Laidlaw, 1932: 36. Maassen, 2001: 28. <b>Type specimens.</b> The specimen herein designated as the lectotype NMW 1955.158.01107 (height 11.4 × diameter 22.8 mm; Fig. 3H, no operculum), to stabilise the name, is the shell figured in the original description (Tomlin, 1932, pl. 26 text figure). The other specimen from the same lot of the lectotype becomes the paralectotype NMW 1981.118.02705 (1 shell, Fig. 3I, no operculum). <b>Other material examined.</b> Topotypes from Batu Cave, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (03°14.276' N, 101°41.079' E): CUMZ 4585 (35 specimens in ethanol, Fig. 3J), 4747 (52 shells). <b>Remark.</b> <i>Pterocyclos spaleotes</i> is only known from its type locality, despite several surveys in nearby areas. Originally, it was described from two shells without an operculum, which leads Tomlin (1932) to assign it to the genus <i>Rhiostoma</i> Benson, 1860. However, after examining the types (Fig. 3G, H) and topotypic specimens (Fig. 3I), this generic placement seems untenable. The unique characters of <i>P. spaleotes</i> are: the small and thin shell, the corneous and transparent periostracum, and the surface with a variegated brown zigzag colour pattern and a dark brown peripheral band. The last whorl is usually partially disconnected from the penultimate whorl.Aperture rounded, with a white lip and a little expansion of the upper part. The accessory respiratory structure has a short, tubular shape. The operculum is calcareous, slightly concave inside and multilamellae outside. <i>Pterocyclos spaleotes</i> clearly differs from any <i>Rhiostoma</i> species by the shape of its accessory respiratory structure located on the sutural area, and by its calcareous, low cupshaped and multilamellae operculum. Moreover, <i>P. spaleotes</i> has been recorded (type locality) much further south than <i>Rhiostoma</i>, which does not occur south of the limestone karst in Perlis, Malaysia. Finally, preliminary analysis of the DNA sequence of a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene supports the transfer of <i>Rhiostoma spaleotes</i> to <i>Pterocyclos</i> (Tongkerd, unpublished data).
description: Published as part of <i>Sutcharit, Chirasak, Tongkerd, Piyoros &amp; Panha, Somsak, 2014, The land snail genus Pterocyclos Benson, 1832 (Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoridae) from Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, with descriptions of two new species, pp. 330-338 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 62</i> on pages 333-335, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5458831
description: {"references": ["le Tomlin JRB (1932) Two new species of Rhiostoma. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, 19: 227 - 228.", "Laidlaw FF (1932) Notes on the land Mollusca of the Batu Cave, Selangor, with description of two new species. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, 7: 35 - 41.", "Maassen WJM (2001) A preliminary checklist of the non-marine Molluscs of west Malaysia, A hand list. De Kreukel Supplement: 1 - 155."]}