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| Dicharax devraivasi Bhosale, Thackeray, Yadav & Khandekar, 2025 |
Abstract
We describe a new micro-snail species of the genus Dicharax based on 16 specimens collected from three sacred groves in Kolhapur District, in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra State, India. This species can be easily distinguished from its congeners in several non-overlapping morphological characters: R2 with closely spaced, blunt, elevated ribs; R3 with an inflated, blunt swelling; and basal part of the outer peristome (part close to the umbilicus) is more expanded than the rest of the outer peristome. We also describe and illustrate the living animal, operculum, radula, and jaw. This is the first report of the genus from the northern Western Ghats and extends its known geographic distribution in the Western Ghats by 370 km north. The new species highlights the importance of sacred groves as a biodiversity reservoir and emphasizes the need for in-depth investigations to uncover largely unknown biodiversity at these sites. We also discuss the need for systematic, fine-scale sampling in the northern Western Ghats to reveal mostly unknown land-snail diversity.
Key words. Biodiversity hotspot, Devrai, endemic, Dicharax devraivasi n. sp., taxonomy
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| Living snail of Dicharax devraivasi n. sp. A, male, holotype NRC-AA-8454. B, female, paratype NRC-AA-8457. C, immature male (not collected) showing semitransparent shell. D, immature male, showing penis (at arrow). |
Dicharax devraivasi n. sp.
Etymology. The specific epithet is used as a noun in apposition. It is derived from the Marathi word “devrai”, meaning “sacred grove”, and Sanskrit word “vasi”, meaning “inhabitant of”, as the new species has so far only been reported from multiple sacred grove forests in Kolhapur District, northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. The suggested English common name is Devrai micro-snail.
Amrut Bhosale, Tejas Thackeray, Omkar Yadav and Akshay Khandekar. 2025. A New Micro-snail Species of the Genus Dicharax Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1900 (Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoridae: Alycaeinae), from sacred groves in the northern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Conchology. 45(3); DOI: doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4543 [5 April 2025]
