Abstract
Megalobulimus K. Miller, 1878 is a genus of land snails that includes the largest living snails in the Neotropics. The main goal of this paper was to review all species of Megalobulimus that have a red lip, and which are distributed in Peru. We carried out a detailed description of their shells and soft parts, and conducted a multivariate analysis on their shells and geographic distribution. There are two species reported from Peru, Megalobulimus capillaceus (Pfeiffer, 1855) and Megalobulimus separabilis (Fulton, 1903). Megalobulimus capillaceus is known to occur in three regions - San Martin, Huanuco and Cusco - but the Cusco population is undoubtedly different from all remaining populations, and is recognized herein as a new species, Megalobulimus florezi sp. nov. This species has a more elongated shell, penis club-shaped, epiphallus longer, and free oviduct longer than M. capillaceus. By contrast, the male genitalia of M. separabilis is filiform and does not present an external diverticulum in the free oviduct.
Highlights
The Neotropics are among the most biodiverse regions in the world (RULL 2007) and the regions’ ecological and economic relevance is indisputable (TUNDISI & MATSUMURA-TUNDISI 2008)
Megalobulimus capillaceus is known to occur in three regions – San Martín, Huánuco and Cusco – but the Cusco population is undoubtedly different from all remaining populations, and is recognized as a new species, Megalobulimus florezi sp. nov
In the present review we recognize three red-lipped species of Megalobulimus from Peru: M. capillaceus, known from Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay; M. separabilis only known from Peru; and Megalobulimus florezi sp. nov., described from Cusco (Peru)
Summary
The Neotropics are among the most biodiverse regions in the world (RULL 2007) and the regions’ ecological and economic relevance is indisputable (TUNDISI & MATSUMURA-TUNDISI 2008). Megalobulimus capillaceus (Pfeiffer, 1885) has been confounded with Megalobulimus separabilis (Fulton, 1903), and even with juvenile specimens of Megalobulimus musculus (Bequaert, 1948), because all of them have a red lip (BEQUAERT 1948) For these reasons, and the fact that the original descriptions are based on shell characters, the species of Megalobulimus have not been adequately differentiated. LEME (1973) established a diagnosis for Megalobuliminae on the basis of anatomical characters such as presence of a buccal fringe, kidney without any vestige of primary ureter, roof of pulmonary chamber with longitudinal septum, and intestine with pre-rectal valve He considered Megalobulimus to be a primitive group and commented that most anatomical characters are constant and homogeneous, making it difficult to differentiate among species. In the present review we recognize three red-lipped species of Megalobulimus from Peru: M. capillaceus, known from Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay; M. separabilis only known from Peru; and Megalobulimus florezi sp. nov., described from Cusco (Peru)
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