Malacological Society of Australasia

Molluscan Research

Volume 19, Issue 1: 19 May 1998

Anatomy and relationships of the papuinine land snail Meliobba shafferyi Iredale, 1940 (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora: Camaenidae)

Bronwen Scott

Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, Department of Zoology and Tropical Ecology, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

Meliobba Iredale, 1940, is a small genus of papuinine (arboreal camaenid) snails from Australia and New Guinea, originally diagnosed on shell characters only. The distal reproductive anatomy, head wart, jaw and radula of the type species, Meliobba shafferyi Iredale, 1940, are described, providing a wider set of characters on which the generic diagnosis may be based. Anatomical characters of this species are compared with that of Rhynchotrochus macgillivrayi (Forbes, 1852) and similarities between the reproductive tracts of the two taxa indicate that they may be closely related. The head wart, which is present in many camaenid genera, is identified as a useful character for determining phylogenetic relationships. It is suggested that the papuinine snails may not form a monophyletic group but may represent multiple convergences of shell shape and ecology.
Key words: Camaenidae, Meliobba, anatomy

pp. 59-68.