Annotated type catalogue of the Bothriembryontidae and Odontostomidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Orthalicoidea) in the Natural History Museum, London

Abstract The type status is described for specimens of 84 taxa classified within the families Bothriembryontidae and Odontostomidae (superfamily Orthalicoidea) and kept in the Natural History Museum, London. Lectotypes are designated for Bulimus (Liparus) brazieri Angas, 1871; Bulimus broderipii Sowerby I, 1832; Bulimus fuligineus Pfeiffer, 1853; Helix guarani d’Orbigny, 1835; Bulimus (Tomigerus) ramagei E.A. Smith, 1890; Helix rhodinostoma d’Orbigny, 1835; Bulimus (Bulimulus) ridleyi E.A. Smith, 1890. The type status of the following taxa is changed to lectotype in accordance with Art. 74.6 ICZN: Placostylus (Euplacostylus) cylindricus Fulton, 1907; Bulimus pyrostomus Pfeiffer, 1860; Bulimus turneri Pfeiffer, 1860. The following taxon is synonymised: Bulimus oblitus Reeve, 1848 = Bahiensis neglectus (Pfeiffer, 1847).

Current systematic position. Odontostomidae, Clessinia costata . Type material. NHMUK 20100620, five possible syntypes (Cuming coll.). Remarks. Of the five specimens, only one is adult; although it does not correspond to the original measurements, it originates from the type locality. The material is considered as possible syntypes.

Bulinus coturnix
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Plectostylus coturnix (Sowerby I, 1832). Garrett Remarks. Richardson (1995: 286) placed this taxon in the synonymy of Aspastus rugatus (Garrett, 1872), without further comments. Judging by the descriptions and figures of both species, there is every reason to consider these two taxa identical. Based on Garrett's 1872 paper, Bulimus crassilabrum has page priority.

Bulimus cuninculinsulae
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Placostylus cuninculinsulae (Cox, 1872 NHMUK 1907.5.3.160, lectotype (ex Fulton). Remarks. Fulton (1907) mentioned that he had three specimens, of which the NHMUK specimen corresponds to his figure. Contrary to Breure & Schouten (1985), it should not be considered as holotype, but is here designated as the lectotype (Art. 74.6 ICZN). The specimen has the apex damaged. Clench (1941) questioned the type locality and suggested it was erroneous. Also Delsaerdt (2010) has been unable to locate this species on Santa Isabel; it is only known from Guadalcanal. Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Eumecostylus cylindricus (Fulton, 1907 Remarks. The lectotype corresponds to the specimen figured by Pfeiffer ( [1840Pfeiffer ( -1865). The original shell height may have been in error. This taxon is now considered a junior subjective synonym of Bulinus broderipii Sowerby I, 1832 (F. Cádiz, unpublished data Remarks. No material of this taxon has been found in the MNHN. As the species was not figured by d'Orbigny, the specimen that most closely matches the given dimensions has been chosen as the lectotype. This taxon is now considered a junior subjective synonym of Bulinus broderipii Sowerby I, 1832 (F. Cádiz, unpublished data Remarks. Delsaerdt (2010) corrected the coordinates of the type locality as given by Clench. The specimen in NHMUK was obtained "Through Dr Quick" from the Schlesch collection and has a label "paratype" glued within the aperture. It may be noted that Clench (1950)  Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Eumecostylus foxi (Clench, 1950). Remarks. Two lots, each consisting of three specimens proved to be present, one corresponding to the variety recognized by Pfeiffer (1859). All material was taken at Vanuatu, Prov. Tafea, Anatom (of which Anaiteum and Aneityum are a few of the variant names), according to the label glued inside the aperture of one of the specimens and the label of the variety lot. The specimen figured by Pfeiffer (1854: pl. 48 figs 5-6) is now seclected lectotype (design. n.). (Pfeiffer, 1853 fig. 1 has been selected lectotype (design. n.); the apex of the specimen is slightly damaged and its current shell height is somewhat smaller than in the original measurements. This species is tentatively classified with Bahiensis, awaiting a generic level revision of this group.

Placostylus guppyi
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Eumecostylus hargravesi . Remarks. According to Pilsbry (1900) and Iredale (1939) the type locality is Western Australia, King George Sound, near Bald Head. Captain King visited this locality on 20 Juanuary 1818 and stated "An abundance of shells of the helix tribe (Helix bulimus) was found on the top and sides of the hill" (King 1827: 12 Remarks. Both series are accompanied by a label in Cox' handwriting. The specimen registered 1880.12.11.46 was presented by J.C. Cox, has a taxon label "Bulimus kreftii" and corresponds to pl.4 fig. 4 of Cox (1872). The other lot (ex A.S. Kennard collection) has a taxon label "Placostylus krefftii" [sic, misspelled] and is "(Ex Auct.)"; the locality on Kennard's label "New Caledonia" is clearly in error. It is therefore more likely that the specimen presented by Cox was truly part of the type series; those from the Kennard collection may have been collected at a later stage, for which the genus name Placostylus on the taxon label written by Cox (Fig.  14ii) is an indication.

Bulimus infundibulum
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Placocharis kreftii (Cox, 1872 Pfeiffer (1859) stated that the material was in "Mus. Cuming". The specimens found are not accompanied by a taxon label in Pfeiffer's handwriting, but their type status is not disputed. Simone (2006) listed the specimen as lectotype, but we are unaware of a previous lectotype designation for this taxon. His listing does not fulfill the requirements of ICZN Art. 74.7, and therefore the specimen is regarded as a syntype. The registration number quoted by him was incorrect. The type locality has not been found using modern gazetteers.

Bulimus macgillivrayi
Dimensions Remarks. In d'Orbigny (1835) only the name of this taxon is mentioned, together with a locality, thus it was invalidly published. The first valid publication is in d'Orbigny 1837 [1834][1835][1836][1837][1838][1839][1840][1841][1842][1843][1844][1845][1846][1847], where only a brief description was given but no figures of the ventral view of the shell (only a side view of a living snail). There is no explicit mentioning of "var. major" on the label, as d'Orbigny has done with varieties of other taxa; the only link are the localities quoted in his original paper. This taxon is here figured for the first time. As the lots referring to Pupa spixii refer to two taxa, a lectotype is here designated for each (design. n.); see also minor d'Orbigny.
Current systematic position. Odontotomidae, Spixia striata (Spix, 1827).  (1835) only the name of this taxon is mentioned, together with a locality, thus it was invalidly published. One specimen, which most closely matches the original shell height, is here designated as the lectotype. As the lots refer-ring to Pupa spixii refer to two taxa, a lectotype is here designated for each (design. n.); see also major d'Orbigny. This taxon is here figured for the first time.
Label. No locality information on the label, which gives the taxon name as "Bulimus Nekouensis". A second label states "New Caledonia" but this is likely to have been added after the receipt of the material. Dimensions

Remarks.
A note accompanies the material stating "types / var. designation not Pfeiffer's". However, the label on the back of the cardbox has Pfeiffer's handwriting, and the type status of these specimens is not disputed here. Simone (2006) incorrectly gave the size of the lectotype as 21 mm height. This species is tentatively classified with Bahiensis, a group awaiting a generic level revision.
Current systematic position. Odontostomidae, Bahiensis neglecta (Pfeiffer, 1847). Remarks. The data on the collector and the way this specimen has found its way to the NHMUK collection have been taken from Herbert (2007). The size of the specimen was erroneously given as "length 11.5 mm". Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Prestonella nuptialis (Melvill and Ponsonby, 1894). Remarks. Garrett's original description mentioned that types were in the author's collection and in the ANSP. The specimens originate from Garrett and were probably part of the original series.

Bulimus oblitus
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Callistocharis ochrostoma (Garrett, 1872). Remarks. According to Sowerby, he had seen "A few specimens...". Since it is not unlikely that Sowerby made use of the Cuming collection to describe species (Petit 2009 Remarks. Simone (2006) has revalidated this taxon as a separate species, removing it from the synonymy of Bahiensis occultus (Reeve, 1849) (See also Pisbry 1901Pisbry [1901Pisbry -1902: 48), and placing it in the genus Moricandia Pilsbry and Vanatta, 1898. Pfeiffer's type is somewhat stouter, but has the same characteristic brown blotch behind the lip. Tentatively, the synonymy with Bulimus occultus Reeve, 1849 is here retained.

Bulimus odontostoma
Current systematic position. Odontostomidae, Bahiensis occultus (Reeve, 1849 Solem (1959) the "holotype of pyrostomus is more slender than most of the specimens seen, but it is not too atypical. The holotype of salomonis could not be located in the British Museum". Solem based his comments on a photograph of the type and was possibly unaware of the existence of two additional specimens. His "holotype of pyrostomus" is here interpreted as a lectotype designation (Art. 74.6 ICZN), overruling the subsequent designation by Breure and Schouten (1985: 59). See also under Bulimus salomonis.

Bulimus
Remarks. The specimen figured by E.A. Smith is here desingated lectotype (design.n.). The four paralectotypes are glued onto paper.
Type material. NHMUK 1975234, lectotype (Cuming coll.). Remarks. The specimen, which corresponds to the original measurements and which has been figured by Pfeiffer (1856), was designated lectotype by Schouten 1985. Dohrn (1862: 213) was the first to recognize the synonymy between Partula salomonis Pfeiffer, 1853 and Bulimus pyrostomus Pfeiffer, 1860, despite the erroneous locality given for the former taxon. The species only occurs on the New Hebrides (Solem 1959, Delsaerdt 2010. Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Santacharis salomonis (Pfeiffer, 1853). Remarks. In addition, two further specimens are present; of which one is a probable paralectotype (1880.12.11.2) and the other (1877.7.23.23) is non-type material; however, as these specimens were previously mounted on the same board (possibly for display), but subsequently removed from the board, there is now no way of telling which specimen is which.
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Placostylus eddystonensis savesi Crosse, 1886. Remarks. The specimens are accompanied by a second label "B. sellersi / Cox / Austr:", which is possibly the original label of Cox. Furthermore, a third label. presumably made by Kennard, reads "Guadalcanar Cotypes Cox coll.". The measurements of the lectotype as given by Delsaerdt (2010) appear to be erroneous ("The length of the lectotype is 50 mm").

Liparus spenceri Tate, 1894
http://species-id.net/wiki/Liparus_spenceri Figs 2J-K, 2v Liparus spenceri Tate 1894: 192;Tate 1896: 202, pl. 17 fig. 3 Küster & Pfeiffer 1840-1865 as lectotype. He remarked that the whereabouts of the type are unknown. Three specimens were found in the NHM Mollusca General Collection, which originate from Cuming's collection and have the label in agreement with Pfeiffer's type locality. One of the specimens corresponds to the figure in Delsaerdt representing the lectotype; its measurements fit with Pfeiffer's and it is now considered the lectotype despite the fact that the taxon label is not in Pfeiffer's handwriting.

Remarks.
The material (two specimens) is accompanied by two labels in Pfeiffer's handwriting. One states "B. Tasmanicus / Pfr. Van Diemens / isl."; this is considered the original label as it is entirely written in Pfeiffer's hand and the specimen is considered to be a syntype. The second label reads "B. Tasmanicus Pfr. var. / Isle of Ianna / New Caledonia"; only the taxon name ("Tasmanicus Pfr. var.") is in Pfeiffer's handwriting and this material is not considered to be a syntype as the locality seems to be erroneous. Kershaw (1987) has restricted the type locality to Maria Island. Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Bothriembryon tasmanicus (Pfeiffer, 1853).  (Fulton, 1903). Remarks. The holotype designation (Solem 1959) has to be interpreted as lectotype designation (Art. 74.6 ICZN). Of the paralectotypes, one is subadult, the other juvenile.

Tomogeres turbinatus
Current systematic position. Bothriembryontidae, Poecilocharis turneri (Pfeiffer, 1860). Remarks. Pfeiffer's description was read before the Zoological Society of London on 13 December 1842, but appeared in print in 1843. In this paper he gives the exact text as shown on the label. The locality label does not seem to have the taxon name in Pfeiffer's hand; however, there is a second label in his handwriting "B. variegatus / Pfr.". Therefore we do not question the type status of these specimens. This taxon is now considered a junior subjective synonym of Bulinus broderipii Sowerby I, 1832 (F. Cádiz, unpublished data).