Plectopylidae


Plectopylidae is a taxonomic family of large air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Plectopyloidea.

Distribution

The range of the family Plectopylidae extends from Nepal and Northeastern India through large part of Southeastern Asia to Taiwan and Southern Japan. Up to now, the distribution of Plectopylidae is divided into two geographic regions: Nepal, Northeastern India, Myanmar, western Yunnan, western part of Thailand, Northern Malaysia and northwestern part of Laos, and Northern Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.

Taxonomy

This family has no subfamilies.

Genera

Genera within the family Plectopylidae include:
Gerard Kalshoven Gude revised every known taxon of Plectopylis at the end of the 19th century, and he published drawings of their shells and armature. He subdivided Plectopylis into seven “sections”: Endothyra, Chersaecia, Endoplon, Plectopylis, Sinicola, Enteroplax Gude, 1899 and Sykesia Gude, 1897. Enteroplax was transferred to the family Strobilopsidae Wenz, 1915. Ruthvenia Gude, 1911 was transferred to the family Endodontidae Pilsbry, 1895 or to the Charopidae Hutton, 1884. The name Endothyrella was established by Zilch to replace the generic name Endothyra Gude, 1899, that is a junior homonym of foraminiferan genus Endothyra Phillips, 1845. Genus Amphicoelina Haas, 1933 was classified within Plectopylidae before, but it was moved to Camaenidae in 2013.
Gude's diagnoses of his sections are based on the direction of the coiling of the shell, the depth of the umbilicus, and the morphology and direction of the palatal folds. Most of Gude's diagnoses are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, several species were misassigned by Gude, which was probably the result of focusing exclusively on the morphology of the parietal plicae. Most of plectopylid species were reviewed and some were reassigned by Barna Páll-Gergely and his colleagues in 2013-2016.

Overview of species

Species within the family Plectopylidae include:
  1. Chersaecia austeni
  2. Chersaecia brachydiscus
  3. Chersaecia degerbolae
  4. Chersaecia dextrorsa
  5. Chersaecia kengtungensis
  6. Chersaecia leiophis - type species, synonym: Chersaecia pseudophis Godwin-Austen, 1875
  7. Chersaecia munipurensis
  8. Chersaecia muspratti
  9. Chersaecia nagaensis
  10. Chersaecia perarcta
  11. Chersaecia perrierae
  12. Chersaecia refuga
  13. Chersaecia shanensis
  14. Chersaecia shiroiensis
  15. Chersaecia simplex
  16. Endoplon brachyplecta - type species
  17. Endoplon smithiana
  18. Endothyrella aborensis
  19. Endothyrella affinis
  20. Endothyrella angulata Budha & Páll-Gergely, 2015
  21. Endothyrella babbagei
  22. Endothyrella brahma
  23. Endothyrella bedfordi
  24. Endothyrella blanda
  25. Endothyrella dolakhaensis Budha & Páll-Gergely, 2015
  26. Endothyrella fultoni
  27. Endothyrella gregorsoni
  28. Endothyrella inexpectata Páll-Gergely, 2015
  29. Endothyrella macromphalus
  30. Endothyrella minor
  31. Endothyrella miriensis
  32. Endothyrella nepalica Budha & Páll-Gergely, 2015
  33. Endothyrella oakesi
  34. Endothyrella oglei - synonym: Chersaecia oglei
  35. Endothyrella pinacis - synonym: Endothyrella pettos
  36. Endothyrella plectostoma - type species, subspecies: Endothyrella plectostoma prodigium ; Endothyrella plectostoma exerta
  37. Endothyrella robustistriata Páll-Gergely, 2015
  38. Endothyrella serica - synonym: Chersaecia serica
  39. Endothyrella sowerbyi
  40. Endothyrella tricarinata
  41. Endothyrella williamsoni
  42. Gudeodiscus anceyi
  43. Gudeodiscus concavus Páll-Gergely, 2013
  44. Gudeodiscus cyrtochilus
  45. Gudeodiscus dautzenbergi - synonym: Gudeodiscus persimilis
  46. Gudeodiscus emigrans - subspecies: Gudeodiscus emigrans otanii Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013; Gudeodiscus emigrans quadrilamellatus Páll-Gergely, 2013
  47. Gudeodiscus eroessi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013 - subspecies: Gudeodiscus eroessi fuscus Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013; Gudeodiscus eroessi hemisculptus Páll-Gergely, 2013
  48. Gudeodiscus fischeri - synonym: Gudeodiscus tenuis
  49. Gudeodiscus francoisi - synonyms: Gudeodiscus lepidus ; Gudeodiscus bavayi
  50. Gudeodiscus giardi - synonym: Gudeodiscus congestus ; subspecies: Gudeodiscus giardi szekeresi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013; Gudeodiscus giardi oharai Páll-Gergely, 2013
  51. Gudeodiscus goliath Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  52. Gudeodiscus hemmeni Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2015
  53. Gudeodiscus infralevis - synonym: Gudeodiscus soror
  54. Gudeodiscus longiplica Páll-Gergely & Asami, 2016
  55. Gudeodiscus marmoreus Páll-Gergely, 2014
  56. Gudeodiscus messageri - subspecies: Gudeodiscus messageri raheemi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2015
  57. Gudeodiscus multispira
  58. Gudeodiscus okuboi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  59. Gudeodiscus phlyarius - type species, synonyms: Gudeodiscus moellendorffi ; Gudeodiscus gouldingi ; Gudeodiscus verecundus ; Gudeodiscus fallax ; Gudeodiscus anterides ; Gudeodiscus phlyarius werneri Páll-Gergely, 2013
  60. Gudeodiscus pulvinaris - subspecies: Gudeodiscus pulvinaris robustus Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  61. Gudeodiscus soosi Páll-Gergely, 2013
  62. Gudeodiscus suprafilaris
  63. Gudeodiscus ursula Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  64. Gudeodiscus villedaryi
  65. Gudeodiscus yanghaoi Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  66. Gudeodiscus yunnanensis Páll-Gergely, 2013
  67. Halongella fruhstorferi - synonym: Gudeodiscus fruhstorferi
  68. Halongella schlumbergeri - type species, synonym: Gudeodiscus schlumbergeri ; Gudeodiscus jovius ; Gudeodiscus hirsutus ; Gudeodiscus pilsbryana
  69. Hunyadiscus andersoni - synonym: Chersaecia andersoni
  70. Hunyadiscus saurini Páll-Gergely, 2016
  71. Naggsia laomontana - synonym: Chersaecia laomontana
  72. Plectopylis bensoni - type species
  73. Plectopylis anguina
  74. Plectopylis cairnsi
  75. Plectopylis cyclaspis - synonym: Plectopylis revoluta Pfeiffer, 1867
  76. Plectopylis feddeni
  77. Plectopylis karenorum
  78. Plectopylis goniobathmos
  79. Plectopylis leucochila
  80. Plectopylis linterae
  81. Plectopylis lissochlamys
  82. Plectopylis magna
  83. Plectopylis ponsonbyi
  84. Plectopylis repercussa
  85. Plectopylis woodthorpei
  86. Sicradiscus cutisculptus
  87. Sicradiscus diptychia
  88. Sicradiscus feheri Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  89. Sicradiscus hirasei
  90. Sicradiscus invius
  91. Sicradiscus ishizakii
  92. Sicradiscus mansuyi
  93. Sicradiscus schistoptychia - type species
  94. Sicradiscus securus
  95. Sicradiscus transitus Páll-Gergely, 2013
  96. Sinicola asamiana Páll-Gergely, 2013
  97. Sinicola alphonsi
  98. Sinicola biforis
  99. Sinicola emoriens
  100. Sinicola fimbriosa - type species
  101. Sinicola jugatoria - synonym: Sinicola laminifera
  102. Sinicola murata
  103. Sinicola reserata - subspecies: Sinicola reserata azona ; Sinicola reserata hensanensis
  104. Sinicola schmackeri Páll-Gergely, 2013
  105. Sinicola stenochila - subspecies: Sinicola stenochila basilia
  106. Sinicola stenomphala Páll-Gergely & Hunyadi, 2013
  107. Sinicola straeleni
  108. Sinicola vallata
  109. Sinicola vargabalinti Páll-Gergely, 2014
Fossil species:
  1. † Plectopyloides altus
  2. † Plectopyloides applanatus
  3. † Plectopyloides guanzhuangensis
  4. † Plectopyloides multispiralus
  5. † Plectopyloides regularus - type species of the genus Plectopyloides
  6. † Plectopyloides shantungensis'' Yen, 1969

    Ecology

Plectopylid species seem to be associated with calcareous areas in Vietnam. Living specimens occur at the base of large limestone rocks surrounded by leaf litter and humus. Thus, they are not rock-dwelling but ground-dwelling. Most living species have reticulated sculpture on the dorsal shell side, which is often covered with soil and this may be of value in providing camouflage.