Ba humbugi

Last updated

Ba humbugi
Ba humbugi fig74 (3165512961).png
Ba humbugi shell
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Charopidae
Subfamily: Charopinae
Genus: Ba
Solem, 1983 [2] [3]
Species:
B. humbugi
Binomial name
Ba humbugi
Solem, 1983 [4]

Ba humbugi is the only species and therefore the type species in the genus Ba, a genus of land snail, belonging to the family Charopidae. Both the genus and the species were named by the American malacologist Alan Solem. The genus is endemic to the Fijian island of Viti Levu, and B. humbugi is an endangered species.

Contents

Taxonomic history

Alan Solem, the curator of invertebrates at the Field Museum of Natural History, created the genus Ba for his newly-described species B. humbugi. [4] Solem based his description of the type species B. humbugi on a holotype which the American malacologist Yoshio Kondo had collected in 1938 and three paratypes. One paratype was deposited in the Field Museum; the remaining specimens in the type series were deposited in the Bishop Museum. [5]

Etymology

Solem chose the generic name Ba after Ba District, Fiji, which extends into B. humbugi's range. This led to him having an "irresistible impulse" to name the type species Ba humbugi, [3] in reference to the character Ebenezer Scrooge's catchphrase "Bah! Humbug!" from Charles Dickens's novella A Christmas Carol . One review of Solem's monograph naming this species said his choice in taxa names "may either lighten the reader's day or engender hostility", giving this binomen as an example. [6]

Distribution

B. humbugi is endemic to Fiji. [1] It is found in the interior of Viti Levu, an island in Fiji, at elevations of 950–3,200 ft (290–980 m). [5] The holotype was collected in dense forest on Mount Nangaranambulata at an elevation of 2,700–3,200 ft (820–980 m). Two paratypes were collected on the top of Mount Korobamba at an elevation of 1,000–1,300 ft (300–400 m). The third paratype was collected in the Sanganaoreva area 5 miles (8.0 km) inland of Ngaloa, Nuku District at an elevation of 950–1,000 ft (290–300 m). [5]

Description

Ba is characterized by having a high spire and an umbilicus which is either completely closed or slightly laterally cracked. There are only 3+1⁄8–3+1⁄2 whorls, and its apical sculpture consists of about a dozen spiral cords. There are no barriers to its aperture. [3] B. humbugi has a shell with a diameter of 2.30–3.32 millimetres (0.091–0.131 in). The height-to-diameter ratio ranges from 0.752 to 0.842. [3] Its shell is a light reddish-yellow; its periostracal extensions are an almost black dark brown. [5] The body is yellow-white and lacks any sort of dark markings. [7]

Biology

B. humbugi is sympatric with Sinployea irregularis ; both species were found under the same log. [8] It is probably strictly terrestrial due to a lack of black marks on its body. [7]

Conservation status and threats

According to the IUCN Red List, B. humbugi is endangered. [1] They note that only four specimens have been found despite many surveys on Viti Levu over a century and a half. The IUCN estimates an area of occupancy of 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi), and its habitat continues to decline due to deforestation. The IUCN believes invasive species, such as the Pacific rat, black rat, house mouse, and various invasive ant species, also negatively affect B. humbugi. The IUCN predicts it would be detrimental if the invasive giant African snail, rosy wolf snail, or the New Guinea flatworm were introduced to Viti Levu. [1]

Related Research Articles

Aaadonta angaurana is a small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Endodontidae.

<i>Aaadonta</i> Genus of gastropods

Aaadonta is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae. Specimens from this genus are endemic to Palau.

<i>Aaadonta constricta</i> Species of gastropod

Aaadonta constricta is a species of land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae. It is endemic to Palau, where it is known from the islands of Babeldaob, Ngemelis, Peleliu and Koror. It may be extirpated from Koror. It is threatened by habitat destruction and modification.

<i>Aaadonta fuscozonata</i> Species of gastropod

Aaadonta fuscozonata is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Endodontidae. This species is endemic to Palau, where it is known from Koror and Peleliu, and the small islands of Ngemelis and the northern Rock Islands. This snail inhabits tropical moist lowland forest, and is threatened by the destruction and modification of its habitat.

Aaadonta irregularis is a species of snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae. It is endemic to Palau, where it was only known from Peleliu, but has only been found recently on the very small island of Omekang. It is threatened by the destruction and modification of its tropical moist lowland forest habitat.

Aaadonta kinlochi is a species of snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae. It is endemic to Palau, where it was known from Angaur and Ulong Island. If it is still extant, it is threatened by the destruction and modification of its tropical moist lowland forest habitat.

Aaadonta pelewana is a species of snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae. It is found in Palau, where it was known from Peleliu and Koror. If it is still extant, it is threatened by the destruction and modification of its tropical moist lowland forest habitat.

<i>Cookeconcha</i> Genus of gastropods

Cookeconcha is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae.

Opanara is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae.

Palikirus is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Charopidae.

<i>Sinployea</i> Genus of gastropods

Sinployea is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Charopidae.

<i>Sinployea decorticata</i> Extinct species of land snail

Sinployea decorticata a species of small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Charopidae. This species was endemic to the Cook Islands; it is now extinct.

Trukcharopa is a genus of small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Charopidae. The only description of this genus and its sole representative species, Trukcharopa trukana, comes from Alan Solem in 1982.

Zyzzyxdonta alata is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae.

<i>Libera</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

Libera is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae.

George Alan Solem, known professionally as Alan Solem, was an American malacologist, a biologist who studied mollusks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Baker (missionary)</span> Methodist missionary in Fiji

Thomas Baker was a Methodist missionary in Fiji, known as being the only missionary in the archipelago to be killed and eaten, along with seven of his Fijian followers. The incident occurred in the Navosa Highlands of western Viti Levu in July 1867, and the rock used to kill Baker is still displayed in the village of Nabutatau. The soles of his leather sandals, which were also cooked by the cannibal tribe, are preserved at the Fiji Museum in Suva. Records show that Baker was killed and eaten as a result of him touching a chief's head, which is considered disrespectful in Fijian culture.

Vatusila is a genus of land snail found in Oceania. It consists of five extant and one fossil species. Alan Solem described and named the genus in 1983.

<i>Kleokyphus</i> Genus of gastropods

Kleokyphus is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae, an endemic family of land snails from the Hawaiian islands.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Barker, G. (2020). "Ba humbugi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T195519A176082245. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T195519A176082245.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Bank, Ruud A. (16 July 2017). "Classification of the Recent terrestrial Gastropoda of the World". MolluscaBase. p. 39. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Solem (1983), p. 172.
  4. 1 2 Solem (1983), pp. 172–174.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Solem (1983), p. 173.
  6. ↑ Kohn, Alan J.; Paulay, Gustav (1983). "Endodontoid Land Snails from Pacific Islands (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Sigmurethra). Part II. Families Punctidae and Charopidae, Zoogeography by A. Solem". Reviews. Systematic Zoology. 32 (4): 465–467. doi:10.1093/sysbio/32.4.465. JSTOR   2413178.
  7. 1 2 Solem (1983), p. 174.
  8. ↑ Solem (1983), pp. 173–174, 295.

Works cited

  • Solem, Alan (1983) [1982]. Endodontoid Land Snails from Pacific Islands (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Sigmurethra). Part II: Families Punctidae and Charopidae, Zoogeography. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.2553 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.