Camaenidae Pilsbry 1895

Family Camaenidae Pilsbry, 1895

Genus Austrochloritis Pilsbry, 1891 (type species: Helix porteri Cox, 1866, by original designation).

Austrochloritis Pilsbry, 1891 (in Pilsbry, 1890 –1891): 262–263; Pilsbry, 1894 (in Pilsbry, 1893 –1895): 121–122, pl. 28, figs 1–2; Gude, 1906: 114–115; Iredale, 1938: 93–95, 1943: 64–65; Solem, 1979: 120–125, Smith, 1992: 116–118; Stanisic et al., 2010: 378–392, 535–537, Stanisic et al. 2018: 258, 557.

Taxonomic history

Originally described as infrageneric taxon in Chloritis, Austrochloritis was elevated to full genus rank by Iredale (1938). Next to the type species, A. porteri (Cox, 1866), Pilsbry’s (1891) original definition of Austrochloritis included several eastern Australian species, such as Helix spinei Cox, 1868 (now Mussonena spinei), H. mansueta Reeve, 1854 (now Moretonistes mansueta), H. blackalli Brazier, 1875 (now Gloreugenia blackalli), H. buxtoni Brazier, 1880 (now Patrubella buxtoni), H. brevipila Pfeiffer, 1849 (now Austrochloritis brevipila), H. aridorum Cox, 1866 (now Neveritis aridorum) as well as two species from New Guinea (refer to Stanisic et al., 2010 for the currently accepted taxonomy of eastern Australian Camaenidae). Subsequently, Gude (1906), Iredale (1938, 1943) and Stanisic et al. (2010) described additional species. Iredale (1938) and Stanisic et al. (2010) also transferred several species to other genera. Solem (1979) misidentified a then undescribed species of Austrochloritis as Chloritobadistes victoriae (Cox, 1868) and, based on this misidentification, considered Chloritobadistes Iredale, 1933 as a synonym of Austrochloritis. Rectifying this mistake, Stanisic et al. (2010, 2018) removed Chloritobadistes from the synonymy of Austrochloritis and described the mistaken and up till then unnamed species as A. beecheyi Shea & Griffiths, 2018. According to the latest taxonomic treatment of Stanisic et al. (2010, 2018), the genus comprises 34 currently accepted species. We agree with the Stanisic et al. (2010) treatment of Chloritobadistes as an available name in accordance with Art. 13.3 of the Code (ICZN 1999), because the original description of Iredale (1933: 49, 58) contains, although a very brief, diagnosis (“In shell features it agrees with the shells of “ Badistes ” = Meridolum ante, but bears hairs. It has a smooth apex…”) as well as a type species designation.

Diagnosis

Shell. Small to large in size (D = 14–24 mm), subdiscoidal, subglobose, turbinate or trochoidal with almost flat to moderately elevated spire (H = 4–15 mm), whorls rounded, shouldered, subangulate or keeled, sutures moderately to strongly impressed; umbilicus from moderately open to partially closed, with V-shaped profile; protoconch sculpture of dense to scattered pustulose radial ridges; teleoconch sculpture smooth or with regular radial corrugations and overlying low rounded pustules that support periostracal setae, interstitial microsculpture of fine wavy periostracal ridgelets; lip unreflected to strongly reflected, usually with a distinct sulcus and associated swelling behind; body whorl slightly to strongly descending below whorl plane; lip white to dark reddish brown; colour pale yellow-brown to dark redbrown, with or without a single narrow spiral colour band at mid-whorl, rarely with umbilical colour patch.

External anatomy. Animal dark grey or black to orangebrown; retractable head wart near inner bases of ocular tentacles present, varying in size.

Reproductive anatomy. Penis with or without a penial sheath, internally with vergic papilla that may have a very elongated to short conical or blunt tip, open laterally and apically, or have one lobe fastened to the penis wall and another free lobe; inner penial wall supporting irregular longitudinal interlocking ridges and pustulations of various lengths; penial retractor muscle inserting near mid-epiphallus; epiphallus rather long with or without very short to rather long finger-like caecum; vas deferens entering head of epiphallus through simple pore; vagina with prominent longitudinal anastomosing pilasters, usually thickened around entrance decreasing in prominence apically; bursa copulatrix moderately long (equal to length of oviduct) to very long (longer than oviduct), with multi-folded or looped shaft (twice as long as oviduct, or longer), with oval shaped head, aligned against terminal end of spermoviduct; free oviduct short; hermaphroditic duct inserting into head of talon.

Comparative remarks

Austrochloritis is distinguished from other eastern Australian camaenids by the combination of pale to dark brown discoidal to turbinate to trochoidal shell with pustulose radial wrinkles on protoconch, closely spaced curved to straight to strap-like pointed periostracal setae on teleoconch and typical reproductive characters, such as a rather long bursa copulatrix with multi-folded or looped shaft and oval shaped head, aligned against terminal end of spermoviduct, a long epiphallus, usually with caecum, and a free vergic papilla of the penis.

Distribution

From SE Victoria (Wilson’s Promontory and Mt Donna Buang) to SE Queensland (Mt Tamborine). Mainly coastal and sub-coastal, but ranging as far west as Warrumbungle Range in central New South Wales; from near sea level to altitudes of up to c. 1,700 m in the Snowy Mountains.