Diversity and taxonomy of Vietnamese Pollicaria (Gastropoda, Pupinidae)

Abstract

Species in the genus Pollicaria (Gastropoda: Pupinidae) are conspicuous members of the southeast Asian land snail fauna. Originally erected in 1856, both the genus and its constituent species have been reorganized multiple times with the most recent treatment published in 2013. Collections of Vietnamese Pollicaria during 2014 and 2015 raised questions of the utility of currently used diagnostic shell characters and identification keys in species identification. An examination of the authors’ collections, combined with museum specimens, suggested that at least three species of Pollicaria occur or have historically occurred in Vietnam. It is suggested that P. rochebruni is a senior synonym of P. crossei and treat both taxa as conspecific. A second species, P. mouhoti, was believed to only occur in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. A possible third species, based only on previous karyotypic work, is discussed. Our data further suggest that shell features such as color and size lack consistent utility in species-level identifications in Pollicaria.