Opacuincola gretathunbergae Verhaegen & Haase 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Verhaegen, Gerlien
name: Haase, Martin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Littorinimorpha
Hydrobiidae
Opacuincola
Opacuincola gretathunbergae

description: Opacuincola gretathunbergae sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: FCAB414F-A55A-4819-AFE1-CE2AF78D6B2F
Figs 4 E–F, 5 D–E, 6 D, 8 C, 11 B, 12; Tables 1–2
Diagnosis
The new species is most similar to Op. ngatapuna in terms of shape and epidermal pigmentation. It differs from the latter in 11 diagnostic DNA positions, in being much larger and in penial morphology. The penis and penial lobe of Op. gretathunbergae sp. nov. are considerably more delicate.
Etymology
The dedicatee of this new species is the Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. Starting with a single-person school strike and demonstration to save our climate she has sparked the global movement “Fridays for Future” supported primarily by young people and managed to finally get momentum in global politics toward action against climate change after warnings of scientists have been largely ignored for more than 30 years. We wish her and the movement the endurance necessary to keep the pressure up!
Material examined
Holotype (Fig. 4E) NEW ZEALAND • Kahurangi National Park, W of Motueka, Cobb Dam Road; 41°04ʹ25.0ʺ S, 172°45ʹ18.5ʺ E; 1 Mar. 2016; G. Verhaegen and M. Haase leg.; on leaves, stones, woody debris in trickle along road; NMNZ.M.330191.
Paratypes (Figs. 4F; 5 D–E) NEW ZEALAND • 21 specs; same collection data as for holotype; NMNZ.M.330192.
Description
SHELL (Figs 4 E–F, 5D–E). Blunt-conical to pupiform, about 1.65 times as high as than wide, whitetranslucent with brown periostracum; protoconch almost smooth with fine pits comprising ca 0.75 whorl (Fig. 6D); entire shell with 3.5 to 4.25 whorls, teleoconch initially with fine longitudinal ridges, then without structure apart from growth lines; umbilicus narrow; aperture orthocline, slightly higher than wide.
OPERCULUM. Orange, paucispiral; nucleus submarginal, without peg.
EXTERNAL FEATURES (Figs 4 E–F). Epidermis with irregular, large pigment blotches; eyes well developed and entirely pigmented; tentacles without particular ciliation.
MANTLE CAVITY (n = 3). 10–12 ctenidial filaments; osphradium ovate-elongate, behind middle of gill.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. Radula has formula R 5-6 1 5–6/3–4 3–4, L 5–6 1 6, M1 22–26, M2 31–32 (Fig. 8C); stomach without caecum; rectal loop pointing left in roof of mantle cavity, in males more distinct than in females.
FEMALE GENITALIA (n = 2; Fig. 12). Ovary small, simple sac starting> 1.5 whorls below apex, comprising 0.25 whorl and not reaching stomach; renal oviduct first coiling 180° clockwise, then 270° counterclockwise; one distal, large receptaculum seminis lying against anterior area of bursa copulatrix; bursa copulatrix large, globular, extending behind much smaller albumen gland, bursal duct entering anteriorly; ovoviviparous, brooding at least three embryos in pallial oviduct, pallial oviduct as brood pouch with very short albumen gland and large capsule gland, the latter histologically uniform in CT scans.
MALE GENITALIA (n = 4). Testis lobate sac, starting ca 0.75 whorl below apex, comprising up to 1 whorl, may reach stomach; vesicula seminalis coils along anterior half of testis; proximal vas deferens inserts close to middle of kidney-shaped prostate, distal vas deferens leaving anteriorly; penis long, slender, continuously tapering, pointed; distinct lobe on right side pointing forward (Fig. 11B).
Remarks
The sister relationship of Op. gretathunbergae sp. nov. to Op. ngatapuna was fairly well supported (Fig. 2). The average COI p-distance was 0.014 and there were eight type 1 characters in COI and three in 16S (Table 2). Morphologically, the new species is larger. Univariate tests comparing shell dimensions could not be conducted, though, because of the small sample size available for Op. ngatapuna. But the PCA (Fig. 3) and the data in Haase (2008) are clear regarding the size difference. Anatomically, only the male genitalia could be compared because this information is lacking for Op. ngatapuna (Haase 2008). The well-developed eyes indicate that the new species is a true crenobiont.
description: Published as part of Verhaegen, Gerlien & Haase, Martin, 2021, All-inclusive descriptions of new freshwater snail taxa of the hyperdiverse family Tateidae (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) from the South Island of New Zealand, pp. 71-96 in European Journal of Taxonomy 731 on pages 86-87, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2021.731.1205, http://zenodo.org/record/4446916