Abstract

The taxonomy of the Australasian littorinid genera Bembicium and Risellopsis is revised. Five Recent species of Bembicium are recognised: auratum, nanum, melanostoma, vittatum and flavescens, the first four of which occur on the Australian mainland, the last on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. B. melanostoma, B. vittatum and B. flavescens are sibling species which have been synonymised as B. melanostoma in recent systematic accounts, and are shown to be allopatric and distinguished mainly by characters of the penis. At least three fossil species of Bembicium are known, of which one is described as new, and the fossil record extends back to the late Oligocene or early Miocene. The genus is endemic to Australasia and presently extinct in New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands. The genus Risellopsis is monotypic, represented only, by R. varia in New Zealand, and has no fossil record before the Pleistocene. Systematic descriptions of the shell and animal and details of habitat and distribution are given for each species. These genera are abundant in the intertidal zone and the rather large literature on their biology and ecology is reviewed. Relationships with other littorinacean taxa are discussed. It is suggested that Bembicium and Risellopsis together form a monophyletic group, defined by synapomorphies of anterior salivary glands, anterior position of the junction of the duct of the seminal receptacle with the pallial oviduct, longitudinal division of the jelly gland and trochoidal shell shape. The littorinid genus Peasiella is superficially similar in shell characters, but anatomical features show that it is not closely related to Bembicium and Risellopsis. Interesting features of Bembicium include the type of development (the hatching of planktotrophic veligers from benthic egg masses recorded in two species is rare in the family) and the extreme intraspecific variability in the form of the radular teeth.

 
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Bibliographic Data

Short Form
Reid, 1988, Rec. Aust. Mus. 40(2): 91–150
Author
David G. Reid
Year
1988
Title
The genera Bembicium and Risellopsis (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) in Australia and New Zealand
Serial Title
Records of the Australian Museum
Volume
40
Issue
2
Start Page
91
End Page
150
DOI
10.3853/j.0067-1975.40.1988.152
Language
en
Date Published
26 May 1988
Cover Date
26 May 1988
ISSN (print)
0067-1975
CODEN
RAUMAJ
Publisher
The Australian Museum
Place Published
Sydney, Australia
Subjects
MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA; TAXONOMY
Digitized
22 January 2009
Available Online
27 February 2009
Reference Number
152
EndNote
152.enw
Title Page
152.pdf
File size: 107kB
Complete Work
152_complete.pdf
File size: 15996kB