Bakyietaia chenghuang Zhang, Yen & von Rintelen, 2025

Bakyietaia chenghuang Zhang, Yen & von Rintelen gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 20–21 View Fig View Fig

Diagnosis

Shell medium in size (23.70 ± 5.37 mm), rounded and thin, teleoconch with weak primary keels; columellar lip recurved, forming callus covering umbilicus completely; operculum with small nuclear region (around 1/5 of inner opercular region) with shiny grains or veins; outer marginal tooth of radula with 15 to 16 small sharp cusps.

Etymology

‘Cheng Huang’ means ‘city god’ in Chinese, referring to the type locality in Chenghuang Town. Formed as a noun in apposition. The recommended Chinese name is 城隍ṉ田ª.

Material examined

Holotype

CHINA • spec. preserved in ethanol; Guangxi, Yulin City, Chenghuang Town , a river near Shirentou Mountain , 0.5 m deep on rock; 13 Mar. 2022; Le-Jia Zhang leg.; KIZ.240001 .

Paratypes

CHINA • 4 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; KIZ.240002 to KIZ.240005 • 2 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; ZMB.122722-1 • 4 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; KIZ.240089 .

Other material

1 spec. (preserved dry); same data as for holotype; YHY-BAKCHE-CH-1 .

Description

Adult shell ( Fig. 20A–E, H–J View Fig ) medium in size (23.70 ± 5.37 mm), thin but sturdy, broadly conical or rounded, olive to olive brown, with five whorls, apex acute; teleoconch whorls inflated, with three weak, smooth primary keels, with one to two weaker smooth secondary keel located between suture and first keel, sometimes one additional weak keel located between first and second/second and third keels, base of shell with three to five weak keels; aperture ovate, large, around half of shell in height, inner shell surface bluish white to purple white, outer lip thin, always with a relatively rounded periphery, columellar lip covered with thick inner shell layers, always white, adult columellar lip recurved, forming a very narrow crescent-shaped callus or without this structure, columellar lip or this structure completely covering umbilicus.

Operculum ( Fig. 20F–G View Fig ) corneous, ovate, thin, yellow; exterior surface smooth; interior surface with small nuclear region, around 1/5 of inner opercular region, with shiny grains or veins.

Radular ( Fig. 21 View Fig ) (n = 2) central tooth with one broad central denticle and four to five small sharp cusps on either side; lateral tooth with one broad central denticle and four small sharp cusps on either side; inner marginal tooth narrow, about half width of lateral tooth, with one broad central denticle and three small sharp cusps on either side; outer marginal tooth wide, almost same width as lateral tooth, with 15 to 16 small sharp cusps.

Remarks

Bakyietaia chenghuang gen. et sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from most congeners based on its thin, rounded shell with a wide aperture and a very small operculum. It can be differentiated from the morphologically similar species Bakyietaia subcostata based on the smaller number of small cusps on outer marginal teeth of the radula (15–16 vs 29–43).

Habitat and distribution

Only known from the type locality in Guangxi, China, where it occurs on rocky substrates in the shallow water.