Chloritis vanbruggeni
Encyclopedia
Chloritis vanbruggeni is a species
of air-breathing land snail
, a terrestrial
pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Camaenidae
.
, well-known malacologist, on the occasion of his 80th birthday and in recognition of his work on the malacofauna of Indonesia
.
, Pulau [Island] Peleng
, Gunung [Mount] Tatarandang, near village at foot of the mountain in low vegetation. The holotype
is stored in the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis
.
is solid, of a light ochre color, biconcave, regularly striated with very fine axial riblet
s, with numerous periostracal
hairs (visible in this well cleaned sample as hair pits), covering the whole surface. The spire
is deeply sunken, with 3¾-4½ whorls
. Whorls are rounded, first whorls very narrow, the last one very large, and embracing the preceding one, distinctly descending in front. The umbilicus is deep, and very small (about 1/20 of the width of the shell) and partly hidden by the expanded columellar side of the peristome. The aperture
is crescent, a little oblique. The peristome is very thick and expanded all around and somewhat reflexed. The both ends are connected by a extremely thick callus, forming a very strong and quite sharp arcuate tooth on the body of the penultimate whorl.
The width of the shell is 18.2-24.6 mm. The height of the shell is 10.7-14.0 mm. The width of the holotype is 21.7 mm. The height of the holotype is 13.0 mm.
So far, this most remarkable species can not be confused with any other Chloritis species because of its peculiar appearance; so far it is the only species with such a strong and sharp arcuate tooth.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of air-breathing land snail
Land snail
A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...
, a terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Camaenidae
Camaenidae
Camaenidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.This is one of the most diverse families in the clade Stylommatophora....
.
Etymology
The specific name vanbruggeni is named in honor of Dr. Adolph Cornelis van BruggenAdolph Cornelis van Bruggen
Adolph Cornelis van Bruggen, also known as A. C. van Bruggen or Dolf van Bruggen is a malacologist, entomologist and botanist from the Netherlands. His interest in the tropics and tropical Africa has dominated his broad scientific interest for more than 50 years now...
, well-known malacologist, on the occasion of his 80th birthday and in recognition of his work on the malacofauna of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Distribution
The type locality is Indonesia, Central SulawesiSulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, Pulau [Island] Peleng
Peleng
Peleng is an island off the East coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia and is the largest island of the Banggai Islands group of islands...
, Gunung [Mount] Tatarandang, near village at foot of the mountain in low vegetation. The holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
is stored in the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis
Naturalis
Naturalis is the national natural history museum of the Netherlands, based in Leiden. It originated from the merger of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie and the Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie in 1984. In 1986 it was decided that the museum had to become a public museum and a new...
.
Shell description
ShellGastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
is solid, of a light ochre color, biconcave, regularly striated with very fine axial riblet
Riblet
The Riblet Tramway Company was once the largest ski chairlift manufacturer in the world.The Riblet Tramway Company was founded by Byron Christian Riblet. Riblet was born in Osage, Iowa, in 1865 and earned a...
s, with numerous periostracal
Periostracum
The periostracum is a thin organic coating or "skin" which is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including mollusks and brachiopods. Among mollusks it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in bivalves and gastropods, but it is also found in cephalopods such as the...
hairs (visible in this well cleaned sample as hair pits), covering the whole surface. The spire
Spire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
is deeply sunken, with 3¾-4½ whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
. Whorls are rounded, first whorls very narrow, the last one very large, and embracing the preceding one, distinctly descending in front. The umbilicus is deep, and very small (about 1/20 of the width of the shell) and partly hidden by the expanded columellar side of the peristome. The aperture
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
is crescent, a little oblique. The peristome is very thick and expanded all around and somewhat reflexed. The both ends are connected by a extremely thick callus, forming a very strong and quite sharp arcuate tooth on the body of the penultimate whorl.
The width of the shell is 18.2-24.6 mm. The height of the shell is 10.7-14.0 mm. The width of the holotype is 21.7 mm. The height of the holotype is 13.0 mm.
So far, this most remarkable species can not be confused with any other Chloritis species because of its peculiar appearance; so far it is the only species with such a strong and sharp arcuate tooth.