Afrodonta inhluzaniensis inhluzaniensis ( Burnup, 1912 )

Afrodonta inhluzaniensis inhluzaniensis ( Burnup, 1912) View in CoL

Figs 4 View Fig A–C, 5, 17I–J

Endodonta [Endodonta (Afrodonta)] inhluzaniensis Burnup, 1912: 342 View in CoL , pl. 24, figs 14–17.

Endodonta (Afrodonta) inhluzaniensis View in CoL – Connolly 1912: 128.

Afrodonta inhluzaniensis View in CoL – Connolly 1939: 251, text-fig. 19(5). — Solem 1970: 362. — Herbert & Kilburn 2004: 248, text-fig.

Diagnosis

Shell very small, spire raised; protoconch smooth, at most microscopically shagreened (diameter 320– 350 μm); teleoconch texture silky; sculpture comprising simple, very fine and close-set axial riblets of alternating strength; spiral sculpture of indistinct threads in riblet intervals; parietal region lacking dentition; baso-columellar region typically with a strong, transversely-elongate denticle, its apex rounded or flat; palatal region with a single robust trigonal lamella just below periphery, angled upward and with a thickened crest; shape and strength of denticles somewhat variable; umbilicus relatively narrow. Shell corneous to golden-brown when fresh; diameter up to 1.5 mm.

Material examined

Holotype SOUTH AFRICA • KwaZulu-Natal, Inhluzani Mountain [Dargle area, Nhlosane]; prior to 1912; H.C. Burnup leg.; NHMUK 1912.3.25.2 .

Paratypes SOUTH AFRICA • 3 specimens; same collection data as for holotype; NMSA 2607/T614 .

Distribution and conservation

Endemic to eastern South Africa ( Fig. 5 View Fig ), ranging widely from the Soutpansberg and Wolkberg in Limpopo, along the Mpumalanga escarpment, and throughout much of the KwaZulu-Natal interior, at altitudes in excess of 1000 m; in leaf-litter of mistbelt and northern afrotemperate forest. Not of conservation concern.

Remarks

Specimens from the northern mistbelt forest in Mpumalanga and Limpopo closely resemble typical specimens from the KwaZulu-Natal interior. They retain a single baso-columellar denticle, but it is less robust than in the typical form and the palatal lamella is slender, strongly trigonal and its crest only slightly thickened. In addition, they rarely attain as large a size as those from KwaZulu-Natal and usually have a proportionately more elevated shell (H/D ratio closer to 0.65 compared with 0.55). Since these differences are relative and exhibit some overlap, I do not consider these northern populations worthy of recognition as a separate entity.