Stenostylus
Photo of the day (4): Stenostylus
02-04-2008 21:02
Later this year you will see this picture again in an
upcoming paper on enigmatic species. It was taken by
Antoine M. Cleef in Colombia, Páramo de Almorzadero,
4200 m.
Stenostylus nigrolimbatus (Pfeiffer, 1854)
Stenostylus nigrolimbatus (Pfeiffer, 1854)
Embarrassing or what?
05-03-2008 15:29
Sometimes I really feel embarrassed, like today when
I received the picture of the lectotype of Bulimus
nigrolimbatus Pfeiffer, 1854. It was described from
the 'Andes of New Grenada', which is not very
informative at all as it could be anywhere in
northwestern South America. Nobody has ever since
recollected this species or recognized it in
collections. It is the type species of Stenostylus
Pilsbry 1898, originally described as a section of
Drymaeus Albers, 1850, but erected to generic level
by Weyrauch in 1956. According to him there were
three characteristics that separated this new genus
from Drymaeus:
1) a thin cuticula that peels off the shell, 2) the
surface of the postembryonic whorls with incrassate
growth striae, 3) a pearly luster on the inside of
the aperture.
Bulimus nigrolimbatus Pfr.,
lectotype BMNH 1975549
Do you see a cuticula that peels off? Or a pearly luster within the aperture? Does this seem to be an adult specimen to you? No-no-yes to me when I found this type in the BMNH, back in 1975. We didn't have digital cameras in those days, so I had to be very dainty in the photographs I took. Anyhow, this shell was not included.
Several years later I received shells from Toine Cleef, collected by him at Páramo de Almorzadero in Colombia. Typical Drymaeus protoconch, totally different from what I had seen from that country. To keep this story short: it was published as a new species (Breure & Eskens, 1981). Today I realized that these shells are the adult form of nigrolimbatus, which was apparently described from a subadult specimen.
This new synonymy will be published in a paper on enigmatic species, to appear later this year. I found the home of a "ghost species", but still feel somewhat embarrassed.
References:
Breure, A.S.H. & A.A.C. Eskens (1981). Notes on and descriptions of Bulimulidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda), 2. Zoologische Verhandelingen 186: 1-111.
Bulimus nigrolimbatus Pfr.,
lectotype BMNH 1975549Do you see a cuticula that peels off? Or a pearly luster within the aperture? Does this seem to be an adult specimen to you? No-no-yes to me when I found this type in the BMNH, back in 1975. We didn't have digital cameras in those days, so I had to be very dainty in the photographs I took. Anyhow, this shell was not included.
Several years later I received shells from Toine Cleef, collected by him at Páramo de Almorzadero in Colombia. Typical Drymaeus protoconch, totally different from what I had seen from that country. To keep this story short: it was published as a new species (Breure & Eskens, 1981). Today I realized that these shells are the adult form of nigrolimbatus, which was apparently described from a subadult specimen.
This new synonymy will be published in a paper on enigmatic species, to appear later this year. I found the home of a "ghost species", but still feel somewhat embarrassed.
References:
Breure, A.S.H. & A.A.C. Eskens (1981). Notes on and descriptions of Bulimulidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda), 2. Zoologische Verhandelingen 186: 1-111.