Achatina rugosa chapini, new subspecies

Оригинал на английском

The West African (or Guinean) rain-forest subregion harbors a number of species of Achatina of a rather uniform yellowish brown to chestnut color, with or without faint chestnut or mahogany blotches. These species superficially are so similar that it is difficult to identify them from published descriptions and figures. Consequently they.are frequently confused in collections and many of the published records are unreliable. Upon comparing these species, we find that each has a characteristic sculpture. This we attempt to describe in the subjoined key and notes, which, together with the enlarged photographs of the surface of the shells, should help in identifying adult specimens. It is frequently impossible to name with accuracy young shells in the absence of adults from the same colony. Of the five species included in the key, A. bandeirana seemingly is restricted to Angola and the Lower Congo area; A. rugosa is a species of the Central and Upper Congo Basin; A. balteata appears to have a much wider range, extending from the mouth of the Gambia River to Benguela and the Middle Congo; A. iostoma is common in western Cameroon and and A. hessei is known thus far from the type locality only. It is noteworthy that the three last-named forms occur in the same geographical and ecological area, sometimes together in one locality. This precludes regarding them as races or subspecies, though the differentiating characters are rather slight. The possibility should be considered, however, that A. hessei may be only an extreme variation in sculpture of A. iostoma. One new subspecies, A. rugosa chapini, is described in this paper. In preparing these notes, we have used, in addition to the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (M. C. Z.), material belonging to The American Museum of Natural History (A. M. N. H,), the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (A. N. S. P.), and the Carnegie

_____________
'Department of Tropical Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 2Curator of Mollusks, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.

 

Museum of Pittsburgh (Carn. Mus.).

We wish to thank the curators in these museums, Dr. Roy W. Miner, Dr. H. A. Pilsbry, and Dr. Stanley Brooks, for kindly sending us these specimens. All photographs, except figure 6, were made by F. P. Orchard.

1.-Sculpture of body whorl in adult shells consisting mainly of wavy interrupted lines, either vertical or spiral; if small beads are present, these are irregular, elongate and subordinate to the wavy sculpture........................

2. Sculpture of body whorl consisting of granular beads, arranged mainly in vertical rows; spiral lines obsolete or subordinate to the vertical arrangement of the beads...................................

3. 2.-Sculpture spiral, consisting mainly of fine wavy lines, the vertical sculpture of irregular growth-lines only.......................... A. rugosa Putzeys.

Wavy sculpture vertical, consisting of very fine axial lines cut at fairly regular intervals by superficial spiral lines; in addition, irregular growth-lines. A. bandeirana Morelet. 3.-.Beading fine, just visible with the naked eye, not felt by touch, and interrupted by many smooth or wrinkled patches; the vertical growth-lines coarser than the beads................................... A. balteata Reeve.

Beading of medium strength, quite distinct to the naked eye and well felt by touch (individual beads nearly twice as large as in balteata), covering the body whorl uniformly, and arranged in well-marked vertical rows; the growth-lines not coarser than the beads........... A. iostoma Pfeiffer.

Beading very coarse, produced by deeply cut spiral and vertical furrows (individual beads about three times as large as in balteata). A. hessei C. R. Boettger.

 

Achatina rugosa Putzeys

Figure 1

Achatina rugosa PUTZEYS, 1898, Ann. Soc. Mal. Belgique, XXXIII, Bull. S6ances, p. lxxxiii, Fig. 18 (type; forest of Micici, Manyema District, Belgian Congo). DUPUIS AND PUTZEYS, 1902, Ann. Soc. Mal. Belgique, XXXVI (1901), Bull. S6ances, p. lx (the type locality is here given more definitely as the forest of the Wazimba country, on the right bank of the Lualaba River, to the northeast of Nyangwe). PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 76 (in part; not the specimens from Ngayu, which are A. balteata Reeve). C. R. BOETTrGER, 1927, Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf. Ges., XXXIX, part 4, p. 357. SPECIMENS EXAMINED.-Two specimens from the Belgian Congo, without more definite locality (A. N. S. P.). Two cotypes from Micici in the Wazimba Forest near Nyangwe, Belgian Congo (one from the H. W. Winkley Collection, the other received from the Dupuis Collection now at the Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle, Brussels.-M. C. Z.). All four specimens are similar in shape and appearance and may have been part of the original lot.

The sculpture of A. rugosa is very characteristic. It is barely noticeable with the naked eye and its true nature must be studied with a strong lens or a binocular microscope. The whole surface of the body whorl in adult shells is covered with very fine and close spiral lines, which are cut at irregular intervals by slightly raised, vertical growth-wrinkles, producing a peculiar wavy appearance. In the upper half of the body whorl some of the spiral lines are thicker and divided into transversely elongate knots or welts. On the earlier whorls this knotting is more regular and more evenly distributed, so that the surface is finely granular. The columella is long and narrow, with a short basal truncation.

Putzeys' figure was based on an unusually large specimen (134 mm. long, 62 mm. wide). Our specimens are all smaller, but the proportions are the same, giving the shell a much more slender outline than any
iostoma, balteata or bandeirana we have seen.

Achatina bandeirana Morelet

Figure 3
Achatina bandeirana MORELET, 1866, Jour. de Conchyl., XIV, p. 156 (District
of Pungo Andongo, Angola); 1867, 'Voy. Welwitsch, Moll. Terr. Fluv.,' (1868), p. 67,
P1. vI, fig. 1 (type; type locality here given more definitely as "Serra de Pedras de
Guinga"); 1873, Jour. de Conchyl., XXI, p. 327. ANCEY, 1902, Jou-. de Conchyl., L, p. 279. PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 63, Fig. 26, P1. I,

Achatina bandeirana capacior C. R. BOETTGER, 1927, Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf.
Ges., XXXIX, part 4, p. 356, P1. xv, figs. 14 a-b (type; Banana, Belgian Congo).
Achatina balteata var. infrafusca C. R. BOETTGER, 1913, Ann. Soc. Zool. Malac.
Belgique, XLVII (1912), p. 94 (specimens from Banana). Not of E. von Martens,
1897. SPECIMENS EXAMINED.-Four adult specimens from Kunga, on the Congo estuary, Belgian Congo (H. Lang and J. P. Chapin; part of the lot recorded by Pilsbry in 1919.-M. C. Z.). One adult specimen from near Kisantu, Belgian Congo (L. DeWulf.-M. C. Z.). The peculiar sculpture of A. bandeirana consists, on the body whorl of adult shells, of fine and close vertical (or axial) wrinkles made wavy by numerous, superficial, spiral lines which cut them at regular intervals. Below the suture the waves are much coarser and form low, vertically elongate welts. In addition there are many moderately strong growthwrinkles. On the earlier whorls the sculpture is more granular. The columella is broad and short, with a long basal truncation. All the specimens we have seen, as well as those listed and figured by Pilsbry (1919), belong to C. R. Boettger's race capacior, which is said to be relatively shorter and broader than Morelet's type, and consequently with the body whorl wider in proportion. Boettger gave the measurements of capacior as: length, 104; diameter, 55; aperture, 55 X 30 mm.; while Morelet's type measured 101 mm. in length and 43 mm. in diameter for 81 whorls. In our series of shells from Kunga (on the estuary of the Congo, twenty kilometers east of Banana) the proportion of length
to width varies considerably, but all are bulkier on the body whorl than Morelet's figures and undoubtedly fall under the definition of capacior. The same is true of the specimen from Kisantu. Considering, however,
that Morelet saw only two small specimens and that he later referred to bandeirana young specimens from Landana (a locality north of the estuary of the Congo), it seems extremely doubtful that capacior represents a distinct race. Until a good series of bandeirana can be procured from the type locality of the species, we follow Morelet, Pilsbry, and Dautzenberg in referring the shells from the Lower Congo region merely to bandeirana.

The largest specimen known, 160 mm. in length and 77 mm. in width, was found at Banza Manteka, a locality of the Lower Congo about halfway between Banana and Kisantu. It was recorded by
Dautzenberg in 1891.

At Kisantu, Dr. L. De Wulf found phorid flies of the genus Wandolleckia living on Achatmia bandeirana. Achatina dohrniana PFEIFFER, 1870, Mal. B1atter, XVII, p. 29

("Angola"); 1870, 'Novit. Conch.,' IV, p. 1, P1. cix, figs. 1-2 (two cotypes), was claimed by H. Dohrn (1873, Mal. Blatter, XXI, p. 79) to be identical with A. bandeirana Morelet. This opinion, however, was disputed by Morelet (1873, Jour. de Conchyl., XXI, p. 327; 1874, op. cit., XXII, p. 60), with whom we agree. The strongly concave columella and especially the rather coarse granulation extending over the lower half of the last whorl, as shown in Pfeiffer's figures, are not found in bandeirana. As pointed out by Morelet, A. dohrniana is related to A. welwitschi Morelet, though apparently distinct.

 

 

 

Achatina balteata Reeve

Figures 4 and 5
Achatinra balteata REEVE, 1849 (February), 'Conch. Icon.,' V, Achatina, P1. ii
fig. 7 (type: "Banks of the River Gambia"). PILSBRY, 1904, 'Man. of Conch.,' (2)
XVII, p. 30, P1. iv, fig. 27; 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 78. GERMAIN,
1913, Pull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris, XIX, p. 353, fig. 71 (young shell). DAUTZENBERG,
1921, Rev. Zool. Afric., IX, part 1, p. 87.
Achatina monetaria MORELET, 1867, 'Voy. Welwitsch, Moll. Terr. Fluv.,' (1868),
p. 63, P1. ViII, fig. 2 (type: "pays de Selles, dans l'int6rieur du district de NovoRedondo, Angola").
Achatina balteata var. vidaleti GERMAIN, 1913, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, XIX,
p. 354 (without definite locality, but probably from Fort Rousset, French Equatorial
Africa).
Achatina rugosa PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 76 (in
part; specimens from Ngayu, Belgian Congo). Not of Putzeys, 1898. SPECIMENs EXAMINED.-TwO specimens labelled " Gambia" (M. C. Z.). Four specimens from Bathurst, Gambia (M. C. Z. and Carn. Mus.). Five specimens from Kribi, Cameroon (G. Schwab.-M. C. Z.). Two nearly adult specimens, of 7 whorls, from Lolodorf, Cameroon (A. J. Good.-M. C. Z. and Carn. Mus.). Two specimens from Ngayu, Belgian Congo (Lang and Chapin.-A. M. N. H.) and one possibly from the same locality at the A. N. S. P. The specimens from Ngayu were referred to A. rugosa Putzeys by
Pilsbry, but they have the granulose sculpture of balteata, which is absent in true rugosa. A. balteata is characterized by the peculiar, fine, granulose beading which covers all the whorls. These are described in the original description as "creberrime minute granulatis." On the upper half of the body whorl, right behind the aperture, there are 25 to 30 beads in a vertical
stretch one centimeter long. The body whorl of adult shells shows no wavy sculpture, either vertical (radial) or horizontal (spiral), as is present in A. rugosa and A. bandeirana; the beading forms incomplete short vertical rows, but it is interrupted by many smooth or irregularly wrinkled areas. In A. iostoma the beading is much coarser, the granules being almost twice the size of those of A. balteata. In A. balteata the beading of the earlier whorls is fairly regular; but on the last it becomes very irregular, being much distorted by the coarse growth-wrinkles. The
granules are subcircular and placed in incomplete short vertical lines or
strings. The arrangement of the beads in spiral chains is much less evident.
Germain's variety vidaleti was based upon supposedly adult specimens retaining the pale yellowish-brown color ("teinte d'un jaune marron clair") and the violaceous columella characteristic of young shells. It does not seem possible to recognize this variety. Our largest specimen from Gambia (138 mm. long) is very pale yellowish-brown throughout, but has only faint purplish blotches on the columella. On the other hand, smaller specimens from Ngayu, while having the columella partly
violaceous, are decidedly fulvous over the last two whorls. Much of the color probably depends on the freshness of the shells and on the environment where they were collected, the shells remaining darker in densely
shaded spots. Achatina monetaria, of which only the type is known, was apparently based upon an old and somewhat abnormal specimen of A. balteata,
which Welwitsch also collected in the District of Novo-Redondo. Morelet himself appears to have been doubtful about its validity. Old or bleached specimens of Achatinidae often are heavier than usual, while abnormal specimens are frequently preserved by the natives, for domestic use or as curiosities.

 

 

 

Achatina iostoma Pfeiffer

Figure 7
Achatina iostoma PFEIFFER, 1854, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, (1852), p. 86 (Fernando Po); 1867, 'Conch.-Cal.,' I, Abt. 13, part 1, p. 360, P1. XLIII, fig. 7 (type from
the Cuming Collection). PILSBRY, 1904, 'Man. of Conch.,' (2) XVII, p. 32, P1. xviI,
fig. 18, and P1. XLII, fig. 10.
Callistoplepa tiara PRESTON, 1900, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (5) VI, p. 183, P1. vi,
fig. 9 (type; Bitye [misspelled Bitzel, near the River Ja, Cameroon).
Achatina gruveli DAUTZENBERG, 1921, Rev. Zool. Afric., IX, p. 91, P1. vi, figs.
1-2 (type; Yaunde, Cameroon, at 780 m. altitude).
SPECIMENS EXAMINED.-Two adult shells from Elalawa (Elat), Cameroon (A. N. S. P.). One adult and six young shells from Yaunde,
Cameroon (A. N. S. P.; M. C. Z.). Two adult shells from Metet, Cameroon (A. J. Good.-M. C. Z.). One adult shell from Bipindi, Cameroon (A. J. Good.-Carn. Mus.). One adult shell from Efulen, Cameroon (A. N. S. P.).
Although originally described from the Cuming Collection as coming from Fernando Po, A. iostoma has never again been taken on that island and the type locality is extremely doubtful. The species is known with certainty from western Cameroon only, where it is common in many localities. A. iostoma is readily distinguished from A. balteata by the much coarser, very tangible, beaded sculpture, which covers more uniformly
the entire surface of the shell. The beads are placed in regular spiral
and slightly confluent, vertical rows over the entire width of the body
whorl. Some eighteen to twenty beads may be counted on the upper half of the body whorl, right behind the aperture, in a vertical stretch of one centimeter.

As pointed out by Dupuis [1923, Ann. Soc. Zool. Belgique, LIII
(1922), p. 81], Callistoplepa tiara Preston was based upon a young Achatina. We do not hesitate in referring it to A. iostoma. We have before us a young shell of that species (55 mm. long, of 6 whorls), from Yaunde, which agrees in every detail with Preston's description and figure. Bitye is on the Ja River, about seventy miles to the southeast of Yaunde.
Some of our specimens of A. iostoma agree in every respect with Dautzenberg's figures and description of his A. gruveli, which, in our opinion, was based upon young specimens of iostoma (95 mm. long, of 7 whorls). As yet we have seen no true cotypes of gruveli; but specimens referred to that species at the A. N. S. P. (some of them apparently named by Dautzenberg) are certainly young iostoma. They have the "hydrophanous" streaks mentioned by Dautzenberg for gruveli; but
such streaks are often present in true iostoma, as well as in related species (for instance, in A. bandeirana).

 

 

ПЕРЕВОД

Автор перевода Мария Руфимская

Перевод достаточно вольный, все даты, имена и ссылки на книги я опускала, некоторые предложения меняла местами, чтобы было удобнее. В некоторых местах перевод "корявый", кто знает как перевести лучше, буду рада помощи)

 

В Западной (или Гвинейской) Африке в субтропических лесах обитает несколько видов Ахатин с достаточно равномерным окрасом раковин от желтовато-коричневого до каштанового цвета или с пятнами, полосками каштанового цвета или цвета красного дерева.
Эти виды настолько похожи, что трудно определить их по опубликованным рисункам и описаниям. Следовательно эти виды путают в коллекциях и многие опубликованные записи не достоверны.
При сравнении этих видов, становится ясно, что каждый из них имеет характерную скульптуру раковины. Сейчас мы попытаемся найти разгадку, которая вместе с фотографиями раковин поможет в определении взрослых особей. Молодых особей чаще всего нельзя идентифицировать, не имея взрослой особи из той же колонии.

Всего пять рассматриваемых видов:
А. bandeirana ее ареал Ангола и район Нижнего Конго;
А. Rugosa Центральный и Верхний бассейн реки Конго;
А. balteata более широкий диапазон, от устья реки Гамбия в Бенгела и на Ближнем Конго;
А. iostoma распространена на западе Камеруна
А. hessei известна до сих пор только из типового местонахождения.

следует отметить, что три последних вида встречаются в одном и том же географическом и экологическом пространстве, иногда и все вместе в одной местности. Это исключает рассматривание их как вариетет или подвидов, хотя их отличия довольно не значительны. Однако, следует рассмотреть возможно, что A.hessei может быть вариететтой A.iostoma.
Так же в этой статье описывается новый подвид A.rugosa chapini.

При подготовке этой статьи в дополнение к коллекции Музея сравнительной зоологии использовались материалы, принадлежащие Американскому музею естественной истории, Академии естественных наук в Филадельфии и Музею Карнеги в Питтсбурге.

 

Оригинал на английском

The West African (or Guinean) rain-forest subregion harbors a number of species of Achatina of a rather uniform yellowish brown to chestnut color, with or without faint chestnut or mahogany blotches. These species superficially are so similar that it is difficult to identify them from published descriptions and figures. Consequently they.are frequently confused in collections and many of the published records are unreliable. Upon comparing these species, we find that each has a characteristic sculpture. This we attempt to describe in the subjoined key and notes, which, together with the enlarged photographs of the surface of the shells, should help in identifying adult specimens. It is frequently impossible to name with accuracy young shells in the absence of adults from the same colony. Of the five species included in the key, A. bandeirana seemingly is restricted to Angola and the Lower Congo area; A. rugosa is a species of the Central and Upper Congo Basin; A. balteata appears to have a much wider range, extending from the mouth of the Gambia River to Benguela and the Middle Congo; A. iostoma is common in western Cameroon and and A. hessei is known thus far from the type locality only. It is noteworthy that the three last-named forms occur in the same geographical and ecological area, sometimes together in one locality. This precludes regarding them as races or subspecies, though the differentiating characters are rather slight. The possibility should be considered, however, that A. hessei may be only an extreme variation in sculpture of A. iostoma. One new subspecies, A. rugosa chapini, is described in this paper. In preparing these notes, we have used, in addition to the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (M. C. Z.), material belonging to The American Museum of Natural History (A. M. N. H,), the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (A. N. S. P.), and the Carnegie

_____________
'Department of Tropical Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 2Curator of Mollusks, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.

 

Museum of Pittsburgh (Carn. Mus.).

We wish to thank the curators in these museums, Dr. Roy W. Miner, Dr. H. A. Pilsbry, and Dr. Stanley Brooks, for kindly sending us these specimens. All photographs, except figure 6, were made by F. P. Orchard.

1.-Sculpture of body whorl in adult shells consisting mainly of wavy interrupted lines, either vertical or spiral; if small beads are present, these are irregular, elongate and subordinate to the wavy sculpture........................

2. Sculpture of body whorl consisting of granular beads, arranged mainly in vertical rows; spiral lines obsolete or subordinate to the vertical arrangement of the beads...................................

3. 2.-Sculpture spiral, consisting mainly of fine wavy lines, the vertical sculpture of irregular growth-lines only.......................... A. rugosa Putzeys.

Wavy sculpture vertical, consisting of very fine axial lines cut at fairly regular intervals by superficial spiral lines; in addition, irregular growth-lines. A. bandeirana Morelet. 3.-.Beading fine, just visible with the naked eye, not felt by touch, and interrupted by many smooth or wrinkled patches; the vertical growth-lines coarser than the beads................................... A. balteata Reeve.

Beading of medium strength, quite distinct to the naked eye and well felt by touch (individual beads nearly twice as large as in balteata), covering the body whorl uniformly, and arranged in well-marked vertical rows; the growth-lines not coarser than the beads........... A. iostoma Pfeiffer.

Beading very coarse, produced by deeply cut spiral and vertical furrows (individual beads about three times as large as in balteata). A. hessei C. R. Boettger.

 

Achatina rugosa Putzeys

Figure 1

Achatina rugosa PUTZEYS, 1898, Ann. Soc. Mal. Belgique, XXXIII, Bull. S6ances, p. lxxxiii, Fig. 18 (type; forest of Micici, Manyema District, Belgian Congo). DUPUIS AND PUTZEYS, 1902, Ann. Soc. Mal. Belgique, XXXVI (1901), Bull. S6ances, p. lx (the type locality is here given more definitely as the forest of the Wazimba country, on the right bank of the Lualaba River, to the northeast of Nyangwe). PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 76 (in part; not the specimens from Ngayu, which are A. balteata Reeve). C. R. BOETTrGER, 1927, Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf. Ges., XXXIX, part 4, p. 357. SPECIMENS EXAMINED.-Two specimens from the Belgian Congo, without more definite locality (A. N. S. P.). Two cotypes from Micici in the Wazimba Forest near Nyangwe, Belgian Congo (one from the H. W. Winkley Collection, the other received from the Dupuis Collection now at the Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle, Brussels.-M. C. Z.). All four specimens are similar in shape and appearance and may have been part of the original lot.

The sculpture of A. rugosa is very characteristic. It is barely noticeable with the naked eye and its true nature must be studied with a strong lens or a binocular microscope. The whole surface of the body whorl in adult shells is covered with very fine and close spiral lines, which are cut at irregular intervals by slightly raised, vertical growth-wrinkles, producing a peculiar wavy appearance. In the upper half of the body whorl some of the spiral lines are thicker and divided into transversely elongate knots or welts. On the earlier whorls this knotting is more regular and more evenly distributed, so that the surface is finely granular. The columella is long and narrow, with a short basal truncation.

Putzeys' figure was based on an unusually large specimen (134 mm. long, 62 mm. wide). Our specimens are all smaller, but the proportions are the same, giving the shell a much more slender outline than any
iostoma, balteata or bandeirana we have seen.

Achatina rugosa chapini, new subspecies

Figure 2
Similar to A. rugosa in appearance and with the same type of sculpture, but the
surface more glossy and smoother, owing to the weaker growth-wrinkles. Whorls
more rapidly increasing in width, and more convex, giving the shell a broader outline;
the aperture also proportionately wider. Olive-ocher to colonial buff; with narrow,
irregular, longitudinal, mahogany-brown stripes; sometimes also with broader chestnut-brown longitudinal blotches, more or less curved or broken up. The upper whorls
are generally without blotches, more or less pinkish, and in one quite fresh specimen
they are beautifully jasper pink.

HOLOTYPE.-A. M. N. H. No. A6438, from Lukolela, Belgian Congo, September
1930 (J. P. Chapin).
PARATYPES.-M. C. Z. No. 93211 and A. M. N. H. No. A6438, two specimens,
same data as above. M. C. Z. No. 77018, Lukolela, Belgian Congo, December 17,
1926, one specimen (J. Bequaert). M. C. Z. No. 92992 and A. N. S. P. No. 119545,
five specimens, Belgian Congo, without definite locality, but possibly from Lukolela
(H. Lang and J. P. Chapin.-These were part of the lot of twenty-four specimens referred by Pilsbry in 1919 to "an undescribed race of A. rugosa, or a closely allied
species"). On the snail taken alive by the senior author many specimens of the curious wingless phorid, Wandolleckia biformis Schmitz, were found running over the animal.

 

Achatina bandeirana Morelet

Figure 3
Achatina bandeirana MORELET, 1866, Jour. de Conchyl., XIV, p. 156 (District
of Pungo Andongo, Angola); 1867, 'Voy. Welwitsch, Moll. Terr. Fluv.,' (1868), p. 67,
P1. vI, fig. 1 (type; type locality here given more definitely as "Serra de Pedras de
Guinga"); 1873, Jour. de Conchyl., XXI, p. 327. ANCEY, 1902, Jou-. de Conchyl., L, p. 279. PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 63, Fig. 26, P1. I,

Achatina bandeirana capacior C. R. BOETTGER, 1927, Abh. Senckenberg. Naturf.
Ges., XXXIX, part 4, p. 356, P1. xv, figs. 14 a-b (type; Banana, Belgian Congo).
Achatina balteata var. infrafusca C. R. BOETTGER, 1913, Ann. Soc. Zool. Malac.
Belgique, XLVII (1912), p. 94 (specimens from Banana). Not of E. von Martens,
1897. SPECIMENS EXAMINED.-Four adult specimens from Kunga, on the Congo estuary, Belgian Congo (H. Lang and J. P. Chapin; part of the lot recorded by Pilsbry in 1919.-M. C. Z.). One adult specimen from near Kisantu, Belgian Congo (L. DeWulf.-M. C. Z.). The peculiar sculpture of A. bandeirana consists, on the body whorl of adult shells, of fine and close vertical (or axial) wrinkles made wavy by numerous, superficial, spiral lines which cut them at regular intervals. Below the suture the waves are much coarser and form low, vertically elongate welts. In addition there are many moderately strong growthwrinkles. On the earlier whorls the sculpture is more granular. The columella is broad and short, with a long basal truncation. All the specimens we have seen, as well as those listed and figured by Pilsbry (1919), belong to C. R. Boettger's race capacior, which is said to be relatively shorter and broader than Morelet's type, and consequently with the body whorl wider in proportion. Boettger gave the measurements of capacior as: length, 104; diameter, 55; aperture, 55 X 30 mm.; while Morelet's type measured 101 mm. in length and 43 mm. in diameter for 81 whorls. In our series of shells from Kunga (on the estuary of the Congo, twenty kilometers east of Banana) the proportion of length
to width varies considerably, but all are bulkier on the body whorl than Morelet's figures and undoubtedly fall under the definition of capacior. The same is true of the specimen from Kisantu. Considering, however,
that Morelet saw only two small specimens and that he later referred to bandeirana young specimens from Landana (a locality north of the estuary of the Congo), it seems extremely doubtful that capacior represents a distinct race. Until a good series of bandeirana can be procured from the type locality of the species, we follow Morelet, Pilsbry, and Dautzenberg in referring the shells from the Lower Congo region merely to bandeirana.

The largest specimen known, 160 mm. in length and 77 mm. in width, was found at Banza Manteka, a locality of the Lower Congo about halfway between Banana and Kisantu. It was recorded by
Dautzenberg in 1891.

At Kisantu, Dr. L. De Wulf found phorid flies of the genus Wandolleckia living on Achatmia bandeirana. Achatina dohrniana PFEIFFER, 1870, Mal. B1atter, XVII, p. 29

("Angola"); 1870, 'Novit. Conch.,' IV, p. 1, P1. cix, figs. 1-2 (two cotypes), was claimed by H. Dohrn (1873, Mal. Blatter, XXI, p. 79) to be identical with A. bandeirana Morelet. This opinion, however, was disputed by Morelet (1873, Jour. de Conchyl., XXI, p. 327; 1874, op. cit., XXII, p. 60), with whom we agree. The strongly concave columella and especially the rather coarse granulation extending over the lower half of the last whorl, as shown in Pfeiffer's figures, are not found in bandeirana. As pointed out by Morelet, A. dohrniana is related to A. welwitschi Morelet, though apparently distinct.

 

 

 

Achatina balteata Reeve

Figures 4 and 5
Achatinra balteata REEVE, 1849 (February), 'Conch. Icon.,' V, Achatina, P1. ii
fig. 7 (type: "Banks of the River Gambia"). PILSBRY, 1904, 'Man. of Conch.,' (2)
XVII, p. 30, P1. iv, fig. 27; 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 78. GERMAIN,
1913, Pull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris, XIX, p. 353, fig. 71 (young shell). DAUTZENBERG,
1921, Rev. Zool. Afric., IX, part 1, p. 87.
Achatina monetaria MORELET, 1867, 'Voy. Welwitsch, Moll. Terr. Fluv.,' (1868),
p. 63, P1. ViII, fig. 2 (type: "pays de Selles, dans l'int6rieur du district de NovoRedondo, Angola").
Achatina balteata var. vidaleti GERMAIN, 1913, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, XIX,
p. 354 (without definite locality, but probably from Fort Rousset, French Equatorial
Africa).
Achatina rugosa PILSBRY, 1919, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XL, p. 76 (in
part; specimens from Ngayu, Belgian Congo). Not of Putzeys, 1898. SPECIMENs EXAMINED.-TwO specimens labelled " Gambia" (M. C. Z.). Four specimens from Bathurst, Gambia (M. C. Z. and Carn. Mus.). Five specimens from Kribi, Cameroon (G. Schwab.-M. C. Z.). Two nearly adult specimens, of 7 whorls, from Lolodorf, Cameroon (A. J. Good.-M. C. Z. and Carn. Mus.). Two specimens from Ngayu, Belgian Congo (Lang and Chapin.-A. M. N. H.) and one possibly from the same locality at the A. N. S. P. The specimens from Ngayu were referred to A. rugosa Putzeys by
Pilsbry, but they have the granulose sculpture of balteata, which is absent in true rugosa. A. balteata is characterized by the peculiar, fine, granulose beading which covers all the whorls. These are described in the original description as "creberrime minute granulatis." On the upper half of the body whorl, right behind the aperture, there are 25 to 30 beads in a vertical
stretch one centimeter long. The body whorl of adult shells shows no wavy sculpture, either vertical (radial) or horizontal (spiral), as is present in A. rugosa and A. bandeirana; the beading forms incomplete short vertical rows, but it is interrupted by many smooth or irregularly wrinkled areas. In A. iostoma the beading is much coarser, the granules being almost twice the size of those of A. balteata. In A. balteata the beading of the earlier whorls is fairly regular; but on the last it becomes very irregular, being much distorted by the coarse growth-wrinkles. The
granules are subcircular and placed in incomplete short vertical lines or
strings. The arrangement of the beads in spiral chains is much less evident.
Germain's variety vidaleti was based upon supposedly adult specimens retaining the pale yellowish-brown color ("teinte d'un jaune marron clair") and the violaceous columella characteristic of young shells. It does not seem possible to recognize this variety. Our largest specimen from Gambia (138 mm. long) is very pale yellowish-brown throughout, but has only faint purplish blotches on the columella. On the other hand, smaller specimens from Ngayu, while having the columella partly
violaceous, are decidedly fulvous over the last two whorls. Much of the color probably depends on the freshness of the shells and on the environment where they were collected, the shells remaining darker in densely
shaded spots. Achatina monetaria, of which only the type is known, was apparently based upon an old and somewhat abnormal specimen of A. balteata,
which Welwitsch also collected in the District of Novo-Redondo. Morelet himself appears to have been doubtful about its validity. Old or bleached specimens of Achatinidae often are heavier than usual, while abnormal specimens are frequently preserved by the natives, for domestic use or as curiosities.