Charopidae

Phenacohelix ziczag, photographed by Andrew Spurgeon.

Belongs within: Stylommatophora.

The Charopidae are a mostly Gondwanan family of very small snails, mostly found in rain forests.

Characters (from Stanisic et al. 2010): Shells generally minute to very small (1.5 to 7 mm in diameter); mostly discoidal in shape, less commonly biconcave, trochoidal, turbinate or subglobose. Whorls mostly rounded, sometimes shouldered, flattened, angulate or keeled. Spire usually flat, sunken or slightly raised, occasionally dome-shaped and conical. Umbilicus usually present, varying from pinhole size to very wide saucer-shaped. Shells may be tightly coiled or have fewer and rapidly increasing whorls; last whorl occasionally large and flared. Sutures varying from barely impressed to deeply channelled. Aperture usually lunate and without barriers, occasionally bearing one to several palatal, parietal or columellar barriers. Lip simple. Shell sculpture complex, usually consisting of combination of fine and coarse spiral cords and radial ribs; sculptural differentiation usually present between protoconch and teleoconch with marked break between the two. Periostracum usually well developed, may provide adornments to underlying shell sculpture in form of setae and vertical blade-like extensions of major ribs. Radial ribs varying from relatively straight to sinuate; density may alter over course of shell growth, becoming more crowded on body whorl.

<==Charopidae
    |  i. s.: Thalassohelix Pilsbry 1892 G01
    |           |--*T. zelandiae (Gray 1843) G01
    |           `--T. igniflua A27
    |         Discocharopa Iredale 1913 S88
    |           `--D. aperta (Moellendorff 1888) (see below for synonymy) KKW12
    |         Pilsbrycharopa Solem 1958 S88
    |           `--P. tumidus (Odhner 1917) [=Endodonta (Charopa) tumida, Luinodiscus tumidus] S88
    |         Pillomena Iredale 1933 S88
    |           `--P. aemula (Tate 1894) [=Charopa aemula, Endodonta (Charopa) aemula] S88
    |         Paryphantopsis Thiele 1928 S88
    |         Graeffedon S88
    |--Otoconcha Hutton 1884 [Otoconchinae] BR05
    |--Rotadiscus Pilsbry 1926 [Rotadiscinae] BR05
    |--Semperdon Solem 1983 [Semperdoninae] BR05
    |--Trukcharopa Solem 1983 [Trukcharopinae] BR05
    |--Thysanota Albers 1860 [Thysanotinae] BR05
    |    |--T. elegans Preston 1909 S88
    |    `--T. eumita Sykes 1898 S88
    `--Charopinae [Amphidoxinae] BR05
         |--Amphidoxa Albers 1850 BR05
         |--Flammulina Martens 1873 [Flammulinidae, Flammulininae] BR05
         |--Pseudocharopa Peile 1929 [Pseudocharopidae] BR05
         |--Trachycystis Pilsbry 1893 [Trachycystidae] BR05
         |--Flammoconcha Dell 1952 [Flammoconchinae] BR05
         |--Ranfurlya Suter 1903 [Ranfurlyinae] BR05
         |--Hedleyoconcha Pilsbry 1893 [Hedleyoconchidae] BR05
         |    `--H. delta SC07
         |--Dipnelix Iredale 1937 [Dipnelicidae] BR05
         |    `--D. alychnopis Macpherson 1954 M54
         |--Therasia Hutton 1883 [Therasiinae] BR05
         |    `--T. thaisa A27
         |--Charopa Albers 1860 BR05
         |    |--C. coma A27
         |    `--C. longstaffae A27
         `--Phenacohelix Suter 1892 BR05 (see below for synonymy)
              |--*P. pilula (Reeve 1852) [=Helix pilula] G01
              |--P. aurea Goulstone 2001 G01
              |--P. brooki Goulstone 2001 G01
              |--P. giveni Cumber 1961 [=P. (*Neophenacohelix) giveni] G01
              |--P. hakarimata Goulstone 2001 G01
              |--P. lucetta (Hutton 1884) [incl. P. (Neophenacohelix) stokesi (Smith 1884)] G01
              |--P. mahlfeldae Goulstone 2001 G01
              |--P. perplexa (Murdoch 1897) [=P. (Neophenacohelix) perplexa] G01
              |--P. ponsonbyi (Suter 1897) G01
              |--P. tholoides (Suter 1907) [=P. (Neophenacohelix) tholoides] G01
              `--P. ziczag (Gould 1846) [=Thalassohelix ziczag] G01

Discocharopa aperta (Moellendorff 1888) [=Patula aperta; incl. Endodonta concinna Hedley 1901, Discocharopa microdiscus van Benthem Jutting 1964, E. (Charopa) planorbulina Tate 1896] S88

Phenacohelix Suter 1892 BR05 [incl. Neophenacohelix Cumber 1961 G01; Phenacohelicidae, Phenacohelicinae, Pseudohelicidae]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A27] Allan, R. S. 1927. The geology and palaeontology of the Lower Waihao Basin, south Canterbury, New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 265-309.

[BR05] Bouchet, P., J.-P. Rocroi, J. Frýda, B. Hausdorf, W. Ponder, Á. Valdés & A. Warén. 2005. Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia 47 (1-2): 1-397.

[G01] Goulstone, J. F. 2001. A revision of the genus Phenacohelix Suter, 1892 (Mollusca: Pulmonata) with descriptions of four new species and reassignment of Thalassohelix ziczag (Gould, 1846). Records of the Auckland Museum 38: 39-82.

[KKW12] Köhler, F., V. Kessner & C. Whisson. 2012. New records of non-marine, non-camaenid gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from islands off the Kimberley coast, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 27 (1): 21-39.

[M54] Macpherson, J. H. 1954. Molluscs (sea shells and snails). In The Archipelago of the Recherche (J. M. Willis, ed.) pp. 55-63. Australian Geographical Society: Melbourne.

[S88] Solem, A. 1988. Non-camaenid land snails of the Kimberley and Northern Territory, Australia. I. Systematics, affinities and ranges. Invertebrate Taxonomy 4: 455-604.

[SC07] Stanisic, J., R. A. D. Cameron, B. M. Pokryszko & J. C. Nekola. 2007. Forest snail faunas from S. E. Queensland and N. E. New South Wales (Australia): patterns of local and regional richness and differentiation. Malacologia 49 (2): 445-462.

Stanisic, J., M. Shea, D. Potter & O. Griffiths. 2010. Australian Land Snails vol. 1. A field guide to eastern Australian species. Bioculture Press: Mauritius.