Skip to main content

Landouria bella and Landouria monodon (Camaenidae Pilsbry 1895), new species from Thailand

NEWS - Researchers described the genus Landouria (Godwin-Austen, 1918) and identified two new species, Landouria bella and Landouria monodon. The team from Chaiyaphum Rajabhat University in Chaiyaphum and Mahasarakham University in Maha Sarakham noted that the two species were distinct from each other in the genus.

Landouria bella and Landouria monodon (Camaenidae Pilsbry 1895), new species from Thailand 1

Hirano et al. (2014) suggested that Landouria is a junior synonym of Aegista. In fact, a unique characteristic shared by all Landouria members in Thailand is the absence of a dart sac and a stimulatory organ, a combination of characters that are considered to define the family Camaenidae.

Benchawan Nahok and team showed that Landouria and Aegista are two distinct genera. Landouria has a small, compressed shell, a wide, open umbilicus, and the presence of flagella of various shapes. To date, more than 50 species have been recorded in the genus.

L. bella was collected from isolated limestone hills in Ratchaburi and Phetchaburi provinces, western Thailand. Small, concave-rounded shell without peripheral keel, presence of small and thin lamellae on the columellar side of the inner aperture, long, cylindrical, bent distally flagellum, short penis with rounded verge, short and thick free oviduct and vagina.



L. monodon was collected from sandstone hills in Kalasin Province, northeastern Thailand. The shell is concave-conical with blunt peripheral keel, thick prominent lamellae on the columellar side of the inner aperture, short, finger-shaped, bent distally flagellum, long penis with small and short verge.

Landouria bella and Landouria monodon (Camaenidae Pilsbry 1895), new species from Thailand 2

L. bella differs from all other species from Thailand by its concave and rounded shell. Other Thai Landouria species usually have slightly angular to prominent keels on the edges, as seen in L. monodon. The presence of small and thin columellar lamellae on the inner aperture of L. bella resembles that of L. monodon, but is more prominent.

Original research

Nahok B, Chanlabut U, Tumpeesuwan S, Tumpeesuwan C (2024) Two new species of Landouria Godwin-Austen, 1918 (Gastropoda, Camaenidae) from Thailand, with a key to Thai species. ZooKeys 1208: 347-362. DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1208.117056

Popular Posts

Temulawak (Curcuma zanthorrhiza)

Temulawak or Java ginger or Javanese ginger or Javanese turmeric or Curcuma xanthorrhiza ( Curcuma zanthorrhiza ) is a plant species in Zingiberaceae, grows well in loose soil in tropical forests in the lowlands to an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level and tubers are used for medicinal herbs and drinks. C. zanthorrhiza has pseudo stems up to 2 m tall. The stem is a midrib of upright, overlapping leaves, green or dark brown in color. Rhizomes are perfectly formed, large, branched and reddish brown, dark yellow or dark green. Each bud forms 2-9 leaves with a circular shape extending to lancet, green or light purple to dark brown, leaves 31-84 cm long and 10-18 cm wide, stems 43-80 cm long and each strand is connected with a midrib. Flowers are dark yellow, uniquely shaped and clustered with lateral inflorescences. The stems and scales are in the form of lines, 9-23cm long and 4-6cm wide, having protectors with comparable crowns. Petals are white, hairy and 8-13mm long. The...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Bright white flat-backed millipede (Trichopeltis jiyue) like moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds

NEWS - Bright white flat-backed millipede ( Trichopeltis jiyue sp. nov.) from Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, is the second recorded epigean species of Trichopeltis Pocock 1894 in China. Jiyue (Chinese spelling) refers to the bright white appearance of the animal, like the moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds. Polydesmida is one of the most diverse orders of Diplopoda (millipedes) with about 5000 species in 30 families and is widely distributed worldwide. All Polydesmida are blind, eyeless and metaterga usually show small to prominent lateral paranota or paraterga. Cryptodesmidae Karsch 1880 is a family Polydesmida with about 40 genera and 130 species distributed in the Neotropics (Mexico to Argentina), Afrotropics (continental sub-Saharan Africa) and Asia-Australasia (Central Asia and the Himalayas to Japan and Papua New Guinea). In tropical or subtropical Asia and Australasia, 12 genera and 36 species have been documented in Cryptodesmidae. Trichopeltis P...