Raheem-2014-Western Ghats Land Snails-1-294

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TROPICAL NATURAL HISTORY, SUPPLEMENT 4, NOVEMBER 2014
uncertain taxonomic status, these distributional
records are of questionable value.
Original locality: not known.
Type material: authentic Pfeiffer material
could not be traced, but this species was
figured by Pfeiffer in a publication that
appeared after the original description
(Pfeiffer, 1843-1850 [1847-1848], p. 59, pl.
8, figs. 5, 6, see Fig. 9A). This figure, as
well as the original description, are insufficient
for recognising C. stenomphalus, and
we therefore consider this species to be a
nomen dubium.
The types of C. stenomphalus and other
Pfeiffer taxa we treat as nomina dubia may
have been part of the Pfeiffer collections
(including many types) at Stettin Museum,
which was destroyed in the Second World
War (Dance, 1986, pp. 210, 222).
Genus Cyathopoma
6. Cyathopoma album Beddome, 1875
Cyathopoma (Jerdonia) album Beddome,
1875, Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London, proceedings for 1875:
446, pl. 52, fig. 14
Cyathopoma (Cyathopoma) album - Gude,
1921, FBI, Mollusca-III: 131
Distribution: endemic to the Western Ghats
(Sirumalai range in the southern Western
Ghats) and the southern part of the Eastern
Ghats (Yelagiri Hills).
Original locality: Yelagiri (= "Yellagherry")
Hills, "Salem district", at 2500 feet
elevation; Sirumalai range (= "Sirumallay
hills"), Dindigul, at an elevation of 3500
feet; and Dimbula, central provinces,
Ceylon. Cyathopoma from the Western
Ghats and Sri Lanka tend to have highlyrestricted
ranges, and that is particularly true
of the Sri Lankan species. Beddome in his
original description stated that he had seen
examples of this species from Ceylon, but
no Sri Lankan material could be traced by
us at the NHM. We think that the Ceylon
record is almost certainly an error – it is
most likely a case of mistaken identity,
involving a taxon superficially similar to C.
album, such as C. leptomita (Collett, 1897)
or C. turbinatum Sykes, 1897. Therefore, C.
album should be treated as a snail endemic
to the Western Ghats.
Type material: 3 syntypes from "Yellagiri,
Salem distr.t", "coll. Col. R. Beddome", "898.
12.iv.16", NHM (reg. no. NHMUK 1912.
04.16.898), one of which is here designated as
the lectotype (reg. no. NHMUK 1912.04.
16.898/1, Fig. 8E). One of the two paralectotypes
(reg. no. NHMUK 1912.04.16.898/2,
Fig. 8F) is also shown.
7. Cyathopoma anamallayanum
Beddome, 1875
Cyathopoma (Jerdonia) anamallayanum
Beddome, 1875, Proceedings of the
Zoological Society of London,
proceedings for 1875: 446, pl. 52, fig. 15
Cyathopoma (Jerdonia) anamullayanum -
Gude, 1921, FBI, Mollusca-III: 144
Distribution: endemic to the Western Ghats.
Known from an elevation of 6000 feet in the
Anaimalai and Palni Hills, southern Western
Ghats.
Original locality: Anaimalai Hills, at an
elevation of 6000 feet, in evergreen forest
and sholas. In the 19 th century the term
‘shola’ was often used to refer to forested
ravines or patches of forest that occurred at