Abstract
The minute (adult size 1.3–4.8 mm) land snail species of the family Diplommatinidae in the Fiji archipelago are revised based on historical material and modern (1998–99) collections targeting limestone outcrops on the largest island, Viti Levu, and several smaller islands in the Lau group. The forty-two species (including 30 new species) belong to the genera Moussonia Semper, 1865, Palaina Semper, 1865 and Diancta Martens, 1867, which are briefly characterized and keyed. The diagnostic structure of the inner lamellar system of each species is illustrated. All species except one are endemic to Fiji. In Viti Levu, the 12 localities surveyed each had 1–13 (average 5) species of Diplommatinidae; ten species were each found at a single site only. In the Lau islands, five islands were visited, with 1–4 species per island; four species are known from single islands. The number of historically known species not recollected in 1998–99 (7 species), the number of single-site occurrences (14 species), and the numerous islands — including limestone islands — that have not been surveyed at all, indicate that the 42 species of Diplommatinidae currently known from Fiji represent perhaps only half of the Fiji diplommatinid fauna. Such numbers approach the diplommatinid diversity of Palau (39 described and more than 60 undescribed species), and surpasses by far the diversity of other South Pacific archipelagos of comparable land area (New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Samoa).Nomenclatural acts: Lectotypes designated: Diplommatina fuscula, Diplommatina fuscula var. vitiana, Diplommatina godeffroyana, Diplommatina godeffroyana var. latecostata, Diplommatina tuberosa, Diplommatina martensi var. macrostoma, all Mousson, 1870. Neotypes designated: Diplommatina subregularis, Diplommatina ascendens, Diplommatina quadrata, all Mousson, 1870. New species: Diancta aurea sp. n., Diancta aurita sp. n., Diancta basiplana sp. n., Diancta controversa sp. n., Diancta densecostulata sp. n., Diancta dextra sp. n., Diancta dilatata sp. n., Diancta distorta sp. n., Diancta pulchella sp. n., Diancta rotunda sp. n., Diancta subquadrata sp. n., Diancta trilamellata sp. n., Moussonia acuta sp. n., Moussonia barkeri sp. n., Moussonia brodieae sp. n., Moussonia longipalatalis sp. n., Moussonia minutissima sp. n., Moussonia obesa sp. n., Moussonia polita sp. n., Moussonia uncinata sp. n., Moussonia vitianoides sp. n., Palaina alberti sp. n., Palaina flammulata sp. n., Palaina glabella sp. n., Palaina kitteli sp. n., Palaina labeosa sp. n., Palaina parietalis sp. n., Palaina sulcata sp. n., Palaina truncata sp. n., Palaina tuberosissima sp. n.
Highlights
For many of the Pacific islands, Captain Cook’s voyages are the starting point of European scientific discovery of the local faunas and floras
Twelve species of Diplommatinidae were historically known from Fiji, and an additional one (Palaina alberti sp. n.) is described here based on historical material
Six are present in the material collected in 1998–99 that forms the basis of the present paper, and seven have not been re-collected: one (Diancta taviensis) from Taveuni and one (D. macrostoma) from Ovalau, two islands that have not been surveyed for land snails since the 19th century; and five species are from Viti Levu (D. quadrata, Palaina ascendens, P. latecostata, P. alberti, P. tuberosa)
Summary
For many of the Pacific islands, Captain Cook’s voyages are the starting point of European scientific discovery of the local faunas and floras. At the generic level, Webster et al (2012) reconstructed a 5-genes molecular phylogeny of 71 specimens of Diplommatinidae from SE Asia and the West Pacific, representing 54 recognized species and 7 putative genera. Their results indicate that (1) monophyletic clades correspond with both coiling direction and biogeographic patterns; and (2) the ancestral state in the family is sinistrality, with several shifts (three in their dataset) to dextrality. For the third Fiji shell group, we have used Diancta Martens, 1864 (type species from the Moluccas) These working hypotheses will have to be validated in a broader geographical context and with anatomical and molecular characters, a goal far beyond that of the present paper
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