Notes on Kora and description of a new species from Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)

ABSTRACT

Kora Simone, 2012, currently includes three species known only by shell morphology. They are distributed in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais in central Brazil, where they occur in association with limestone outcrops. Features used to identify them include micro-ornamentation of the protoconch, color pattern, and morphometric data. This paper expands the characterization of the genus through the description of the internal anatomy of two of its species. These features also distinguish a new species, which is described herein. Material was collected manually during several field expeditions to Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu in northern Minas Gerais. Total height and maximum width, and height and width of the aperture, were measured; the number of whorls determined; and staining patterns typified. The digestive and reproductive systems and pallial complex were characterized for Kora rupestris Salvador & Simone, 2016 and Kora arnaldoi sp. nov., which are distinguished by the latter possessing a protoconch with a smooth first ½ whorl, a more tapered profile, a jaw with 18 folds, a buccal bulb with a short radular core, and a fertilization complex with only one tubular fold. The two species share a very peculiar pattern of radula teeth compared to other genera of the family, given that they are rupicolous but do not live inside caves. Diagnostic knowledge of the genus was expanded.

KEY WORDS:
Land snails; morphology; Megaspiridae; South America; taxonomy