Systematic revision of the Indo-West Pacific colourful bubble-snails of the genus Lamprohaminoea Habe, 1952 (Cephalaspidea : Haminoeidae)

Abstract

The genus Lamprohaminoea includes species of colourful haminoeid snails associated with coral reefs and rocky shores in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. In this work, we revise the diversity and systematics of Lamprohaminoea species based on a phylogenetic hypothesis and on a detailed morphological analysis of specimens. Shells, external features of the animals and anatomical characters from the jaws, radula, gizzard plates, and male reproductive system were studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, a molecular species delimitation analysis based on the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery method using DNA sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I was implemented. Five species were recognised, three of them new to science, namely L. cymbalum, L. ovalis, L. vamiziensis sp. nov., L. evelinae sp. nov., and L. mikkelsenae sp. nov. Morphologically, these species can be separated by subtle differences of their external colouration and by features of the male reproductive system. Lamprohaminoea vamiziensis sp. nov. is known only from the western Indian Ocean and L. evelinae sp. nov., from the west Pacific, whereas the other three occur across the Indo-West Pacific realm.