Chloritis togianensis
Encyclopedia
Chloritis togianensis is a species
of air-breathing land snail
, a terrestrial
pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Camaenidae
.
The specific name togianensis is after the type locality Togian Island.
, lying in the Tomini Bay
, Central Sulawesi
, Indonesia.
is solid, unicolored light ochre, biconcave, irregularly striated according to some growth lines, with numerous hair pits covering the whole surface. The spire
is deeply sunken. The shell has 3¾-4½ whorls
. Whorls are rounded, first whorls very narrow, the last one very large, and partly embracing the preceding one, distinctly descending in front. The umbilicus is deep, and about 1/8 of the width of the shell. The aperture
is crescent, a little oblique, peristome thick and expanded all around and is somewhat reflexed; both ends connected by a quite thin callus. The width of the shell is 17.1-19.9 mm. The height of the shell is 9.5-11.7 mm.
The species may be compared to only a few species showing the same kind of rotating of the penultimate whorl especially, and possessing simultaneously a sunken shell shape. Chloritis bifoveata (Benson, 1856) from West Malaysia is smaller (width is 15 mm), and the spire is much deeper; Chloritis unguiculastra (Martens, 1867) is somewhat larger (width is 22 mm), is smooth without hair or hair pits, and is more regularly coiled; Chloritis ungulina (Linnaeus, 1758) is much larger (width is 44 mm) is smooth without hair or hair pits, has a groove at the base of the penultimate whorl near the umbilicus and the whorls are more flattened, not rounded.
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....
.
The specific name togianensis is after the type locality Togian Island.
Distribution
The type locality is Togian Island, principle island of the Togian ArchipelagoTogian Islands
The Togian Islands are an archipelago of 56 islands and islets, in the Gulf of Tomini, off the coast of Central Sulawesi, in Indonesia. The three largest islands are Batudaka, Togian, and Talatakoh...
, lying in the Tomini Bay
Gulf of Tomini
The Gulf of Tomini is a gulf near the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.It is bounded on its north and west sides by the Minahassa Peninsula and on the south side by the East Peninsula, Sulawesi....
, Central Sulawesi
Sulawesi
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...
, Indonesia.
Shell description
The 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, unicolored light ochre, biconcave, irregularly striated according to some growth lines, with numerous 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. The shell has 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 partly embracing the preceding one, distinctly descending in front. The umbilicus is deep, and about 1/8 of the width of the shell. 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, peristome thick and expanded all around and is somewhat reflexed; both ends connected by a quite thin callus. The width of the shell is 17.1-19.9 mm. The height of the shell is 9.5-11.7 mm.
The species may be compared to only a few species showing the same kind of rotating of the penultimate whorl especially, and possessing simultaneously a sunken shell shape. Chloritis bifoveata (Benson, 1856) from West Malaysia is smaller (width is 15 mm), and the spire is much deeper; Chloritis unguiculastra (Martens, 1867) is somewhat larger (width is 22 mm), is smooth without hair or hair pits, and is more regularly coiled; Chloritis ungulina (Linnaeus, 1758) is much larger (width is 44 mm) is smooth without hair or hair pits, has a groove at the base of the penultimate whorl near the umbilicus and the whorls are more flattened, not rounded.