Sphaerospira

Sphaerospira mortenseni, copyright Claude & Amandine Evanno.

Belongs within: Helicoidei.

Sphaerospira is a genus of large snails found in southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales characterised by a black mantle (Stanisic et al. 2010).

Characters (from Stanisic et al. 2010): Shell large to very large, globose to conically globose, with a low to elevated spire; whorls rounded, sutures impressed; protoconch with weak, crowded radial ridges, teleoconch smooth, microsculpture of very fine periostracal radial ridges; lip thickened and reflected, blue-black; umbilicus closed. Colour tawny yellow with numerous black spiral bands and a dark suffusion behind the lip, to all brown with bands visible only on early whorls; rarely all-yellow. Animal with black mantle.

<==Sphaerospira Mörch 1867 [incl. Varohadra Iredale 1933] SS10
    |--*S. fraseri (Griffith & Pidgeon 1833) (see below for synonymy) SS10
    |--S. arthuriana (Cox 1873) [incl. Varohadra halleyae Iredale 1937] SS10
    |--S. bencarlessi Stanisic & Potter in Stanisic, Shea et al. 2010 SS10
    |--S. blomfieldi (Cox 1864) (see below for synonymy) SS10
    |--S. informis Mousson 1869 [incl. S. informis dietrichae Iredale 1937, S. informis fringilla Iredale 1937] SS10
    |--S. mortenseni (Iredale 1929) SS10
    |--S. mossmani (Brazier 1875) [=Helix (Hadra) mossmani] SS10
    |--S. oconnellensis (Cox 1871) (see below for synonymy) SS10
    |--S. rockhamptonensis (Cox 1873) (see below for synonymy) SS10
    `--S. sidneyi (Iredale 1933) [=Bentosites blomfieldi sidneyi] SS10

Sphaerospira blomfieldi (Cox 1864) [incl. Thersites concors Fulton 1904, S. blomfieldi warroensis Hedley & Musson 1892] SS10

*Sphaerospira fraseri (Griffith & Pidgeon 1833) [=Helix fraseri; incl. H. capucinus Férussac 1835, H. coarctata Férussac 1839, Sphaerospira fraseri feriarum Iredale 1937, H. fraseri flavescens Hedley 1888 non H. flavescens Pfeiffer 1848, Bentosites blomfieldi latior Iredale 1933, Sphaerospira parallela Iredale 1937, S. fraseri permuta Iredale 1937] SS10

Sphaerospira oconnellensis (Cox 1871) [incl. S. oconnellensis caroli Iredale 1933, S. oconnellensis jacksoni Iredale 1933] SS10

Sphaerospira rockhamptonensis (Cox 1873) [incl. S rockhamptonensis decreta Iredale 1937, Helix moresbyi Angas 1876, H. planibasis Brazier 1881] SS10

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[SS10] Stanisic, J., M. Shea, D. Potter & O. Griffiths. 2010. Australian Land Snails vol. 1. A. field guide to eastern Australian species. Bioculture Press: Mauritius.