Bakyietaia luikongi Yen, Zhang & von Rintelen, 2025

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

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 30–31 View Fig View Fig

Diagnosis

Shell relatively small (20.66 ± 0.70), thin, spiral whorls low, shoulder angular, teleoconch with very weak primary keels. Outer marginal tooth of radula with 19–20 small sharp cusps; 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.

Etymology

Named after ‘Lui Kong’, the god of thunder in the local Min Nan Chinese dialect, popular in the folklore of Leizhou County which includes the type locality of this species. The recommended Chinese name is 雷神ṉ田ª.

Material examined

Holotype

CHINA • spec. preserved in ethanol; Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang City, Leizhou County, Liren Village , near Nanguang Farm Second Team , 0.1–0.5 m deep on mud and rock substrate in ponds; 6 Apr. 2020; Yu-Xuan Zhou leg.; KIZ.240037 .

Paratypes

CHINA • 4 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; KIZ.240038 to KIZ.240041 • 2 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; ZMB.122764 • 3 specs (preserved in ethanol); same data as for holotype; KIZ.240101 .

Other material

CHINA • 1 spec. (preserved dry); same data as for holotype; YHY-BAKLK-LR-1 .

Description

Adult shell ( Fig. 30A–G View Fig ) relatively small for the genus (20.66 ± 0.70 mm), thin but sturdy, broad conical to conical, dark olive brown, with five whorls, apex acute; teleoconch whorls sometimes with shoulder, with three weak but obvious smooth primary keels, with one to two weaker smooth secondary keels located between suture and first keel, always with one weak keel located between first and second/second and third keels, base of shell with three to four weak keels, all keels usually darker than rest of shell surface; aperture ovate, lnearly half of shell in height, inner shell surface bluish white, outer lip thin, always with an obvious angular periphery, columellar lip covered with thin inner shell layers, white to orange, columellar lip folded outwards, completely covering umbilicus.

Operculum ( Fig. 30H–I View Fig ) corneous, ovate, thin, dark orange to dark red; exterior surface smooth; interior surface with small nuclear region, around 1/5 of inner opercular region, with shiny grains or veins or smooth glossy surface.

Radular ( Fig. 31 View Fig ) (n = 2) central tooth with one broad central denticle and four 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 of lateral tooth in width, with one broad central denticle and three to four small sharp cusps on either side; outer marginal tooth wide, almost same width as lateral tooth, with 19 to 20 small sharp cusps.

Remarks

Bakyietaia luikongi gen. et sp. nov. is the only species of Bakyietaia gen. nov. with a conical shell and weak primary keels distributed outside Hainan Island and is the sister species of the clade including all species with weak primary keels from Hainan. It can be easily distinguished from all congeners based on the small thin conical shell with three very weak primary keels and lower spire. It is the smallest species among those with weak primary keels.

Habitat and distribution

Only known from mud and rock substrate in the shallow water of ponds in Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong Province, China.