Vol. 63, 2024

(update: 2024.3.18)

Unveiling the Diversity of the Smislug Gnus Durgella Blanford, 1863 (Eupulmonata: Helicarionidae) from Thailand and Myanmar, with Dscription of Two New Species

Arthit Pholyotha¹, Chirasak Sutcharit¹, Ngwe Lwin², and Panha Somsak^1,3,*

¹Animal Systematics Research Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. E-mail: arthitpolyotha@gmail.com (Pholyotha); jirasak4@yahoo.com (Sutcharit)
²Fauna and Flora International, Sanchaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar. E-mail: ngwelwin@gmail.com (Lwin)
³Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand. *Correspondence: E-mail: somsak.pan@chula.ac.th (Somsak)

(Received 14 February 2023 / Accepted 21 February 2024 / Published -- 2024)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

Durgella is a terrestrial semislug genus in the family Helicarionidae and currently comprises nine species recorded from Thailand and Myanmar. Two species, D. concinna and D. rhaphiellus, have been described based only on shell information, while the taxonomy of the remaining seven species is comprehensively treated herein using comparative morphology. Revised species descriptions are given for D. levicula, D. erratica, D. siamensis, and D. libas; D. birmanica (previously placed in the Megaustenia) is moved to this genus; and two species, D. pentata sp. nov. and D. nulla sp. nov. are described as new to science. Based on our findings, the combination of shell characters including shape, size, aperture, and umbilicus; the number of mantle extensions; and the genitalia, especially the penis, epiphallus, and dart apparatus, can be used to distinguish all these nine species. Among these nine recognised species, only D. nulla sp. nov. has no dart apparatus.

Key words: Comparative morphology, Durgellinae, Indochina, Land snail, Systematics, Taxonomic revision

Citation: Pholyotha A, Sutcharit C, Lwin N, Somsak P. 2024. Unveiling the diversity of the semislug genus Durgella Blanford, 1863 (Eupulmonata: Helicarionidae) from Thailand and Myanmar, with description of two new species. Zool Stud 63:14.

We follow the code of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, taxonomic papers with new species/genus descriptions will not have early view version.