Abstract
The first data about the genus Cryptazeca were provided by Folin & Berillon (1877a) when they described azeca monodonta based on the study of two empty shells collected near Bayonne in southwestern France. Later they collected some live specimens and established the genus Cryptazeca for it, after study of its anatomy (Folin & Berillon, 1877b, 1891). This genus was included together with Ferussacia, Cecilioides, azeca (with Hypnophila), Cochlicopa, and five additional genera in the family Ferussaciidae (Pilsbry, 1908). Watson (1928) noticed that Ferussacia and Cecilioides had a sigmurethrous excretory system and placed them and the family Ferussaciidae in the infraorder Sigmurethra, whereas Steenberg (1925) and Zilch (1959) placed azeca, Cochlicopa, and Hypnophila in the family Cochlicopidae (infraorder Orthurethra). New live specimens of the genus Cryptazeca were collected in 1987 and its excretory system described as being of the orthurethrous type by Gomez & Angulo (1987). Consequently, these authors proposed to change the taxonomic position of this genus to be placed with azeca, Cochlicopa, and Hypnophila in the family Cochlicopidae. Detailed anatomical and histological studies of the reproductive system also corroborated the close relationships among Cryptazeca, azeca, and Hypnophila (Gomez & Angulo, 1987, 1990; Gomez, 1990b, 1991). Nevertheless, Schileyko (1976) considered that orthurethria was probably a primary condition for Stylommatophora, which could be retained in some taxa outside orthurethral groups. This led again to the placement of Cryptazeca within the family Ferussaciidae. As a result, the classification followed by the CLECOM project (Bank et al., 2001; Falkner et al., 2001) placed Cryptazeca (Cryptazecinae) with Ferussacia, Cecilioides, and Hohenwartiana (Ferussaciinae) within the Ferussaciidae, in the superfamMALACOLOGIA, 2010, 52(1): 163−168
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