Eastern Australian land snail species closely related to Austrochloritis porteri (Cox, 1868), with description of a new species (Mollusca, Eupulmonata, Camaenidae)

Abstract

The systematic taxonomy of three currently accepted species of Austrochloritis Pilsbry, 1891 from central eastern New South Wales (A. nundinalis Iredale, 1943, A. niangala Shea & Griffiths, 2010, and A. kaputarensis Stanisic, 2010) is revised based on comparative morpho-anatomy and mitochondrial phylogenetics. In addition, the status of two undescribed candidate taxa identified as Austrochloritis spp. NE3 and SN39, respectively, is assessed. These species and candidate species are closely related to the type species of the genus, Austrochloritis porteri (Cox, 1866) from southern Queensland based on a recently published mitochondrial phylogeny. Comparative analyses of shell and reproductive anatomy revealed that the members of the A. porteri clade exhibit a rather similar morphology overall. Based on subtle, yet consistent differences in shell and reproductive features, we consider A. nundinalis as an accepted species. The species A. niangala, A. kaputarensis, and NE3 are considered as synonyms of each other and preference is given to the name A. niangala by First Reviewers Choice. The candidate taxon SN39 represents a new species, which is herein described as Austrochloritis copelandensis sp. nov.

Keywords

• gastropoda
• mitochondrial dna
• reproductive anatomy
• shell morphology
• new south wales