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| Erhaia wangchuki
Gittenberger, Sherub & Stelbrink, 2017
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Abstract
The occurrence of at least one species of Erhaia in Bhutan, viz. Erhaia wangchuki sp. n., is confirmed by DNA sequencing. A second unnamed species from Bhutan, that might be congeneric, is known from only a single shell. According to the molecular analysis, E. wangchuki is most closely related to a still undescribed Erhaia species from China. These two species together with E. jianouensis and Akiyoshia kobayashii, both also from China, form a well supported clade. Awaiting additional molecular data, the apparent inconsistency regarding Erhaia versus Akiyoshia is not dealt with here. The extant true sister species of E. wangchuki could be among the four SE Himalayan species from Bhutan and Nepal that are classified with Erhaia on the basis of conchological data only.
Keywords: Erhaia, Akiyoshia, 16S, taxonomy, distribution, Nepal, Bhutan
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| Figure 1. Erhaia wangchuki sp. n., sequenced paratype; scale bar 0.5 mm (photographs by B.S.); Bhutan, district Wangdue Phodrang, Gangchhu, 2883 m alt.; 27°26'N, 90°11'E; Jigme Wangchuk leg. 21.iii.2015. |
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| Figure 1. Erhaia wangchuki sp. n., sequenced paratype; scale bar 0.5 mm (photographs by B.S.); Bhutan, district Wangdue Phodrang, Gangchhu, 2883 m alt.; 27°26'N, 90°11'E; Jigme Wangchuk leg. 21.iii.2015. Figures 5–7. The Gangzetem brooklet (5), with the watertank at the source (6), and the site where the brooklet crosses the road (7). Photographs by Damber Bdr Chhetri. |
Systematics
Superfamilia Rissooidea Gray, 1847
Family Amnicolidae Tryon, 1863
Genus Erhaia Davis & Kuo, 1985
Type species: Erhaia daliensis Davis & Kuo,
in Davis, Kuo, Hoagland, Chen, Yang and Chen, 1985.
Erhaia wangchuki sp. n.
Etymology: wangchuki, after Jigme Wangchuk, who discovered these minute snails.
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Edmund Gittenberger, Sherub Sherub and Björn Stelbrink. 2017. Erhaia Davis & Kuo (Gastropoda, Rissooidea, Amnicolidae) also in Bhutan. ZooKeys. 679: 21-28. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.679.13326
