Friday, February 15, 2019

[Gastropoda • 2019] Diplommatina azlani • A New Land Snail Species (Cyclophoroidea: Diplommatinidae) from Sarawak


Diplommatina azlani

Marzuki, 2019
 RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY. 67 

Abstract
 A new land snail species of the family Diplommatinidae from Sarawak is described. Diplommatina azlani, new species, can be distinguished from its congeners in Borneo by a suite of shell characters. It has a sinistral dark ruby red shell with inconspicuous oblique radial ribs, protoconch that is punctate with small pits, and constriction without parietalis and longitudinal palatalis. To date, it is known only from the type locality, Santubong, a recently gazetted national park in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. 

Key words. gastropoda, land snail, Malaysia, sinistral




Fig. 1. Diplommatina azlani, new species. A–D, holotype (MZU.MOL.17.91) (Scale bar = 1 mm): A, left lateral view; B, ventral view; C, apical view; D, apertural view;
E, live animal of paratype (MZU.MOL.17.92) in natural habitat.

SYSTEMATICS 
Family Diplommatinidae Benson, 1849 
Genus Diplommatina Benson, 1849 

Diplommatina azlani, new species

Cross diagnosis. The main shell characters differentiating Diplommatina azlani, new species, from other sinistral Bornean Diplommatina species are the lack of parietalis and longitudinal palatalis in the shell constriction, and its dark ruby red shell colour. In addition, this species differs from Diplommatina riedeli Maassen, 2007, Diplommatina mongondowensis Maassen, 2007, and Diplommatina soputensis Sarasin & Sarasin, 1899, from Sulawesi, and Diplommatina kakenca Nurinsiyah & Hausdorf, 2017, from Java by the lack of longitudinal palatalis in shell constriction and by the presence of inconspicuous radial ribs on the body whorl. This new species has more densely placed radial ribs compared to Diplommatina tardigrada Benthem-Jutting, 1959, Diplommatina strophosa Benthem-Jutting, 1959, and Diplommatina tweediei Laidlaw, 1949, from Sumatra, Diplommatina laidlawi Sykes, 1903 from Peninsular Malaysia, and Diplommatina busanensis Godwin-Austen, 1889 from Sarawak.
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Etymology. The specific epithet honours the zoologist Mohd. Azlan Jayasilan of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) for his contributions to Bornean wildlife conservation and his interest in ecological studies of the terrestrial snails of Sarawak.

 Geographic distribution and habitat. Diplommatina azlani, new species, is thus far known only from the type locality (Fig. 2). The animals were observed living among leaf litter and plant debris near a rocky stream in lowland mixed dipterocarp forest.


Mohammad Effendi bin Marzuki. 2019. Diplommatina azlani, A New Land Snail Species from Sarawak (Gastropoda: Cyclophoroidea: Diplommatinidae). RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY. 67; 56–59.