Daedalochila subclausa (Pilsbry, 1899) Suwannee Liptooth

Live Daedalochila subclausa (Pilsbry, 1899) From Imeson Road (7/26/2010)

Suwannee Liptooth Videos

Daedalochila subclausa In Duval Co., Florida

Daedalochila subclausa In Franklin Co., Florida

Daedalochila subclausa In St. Johns Co., Florida

   This taxon was first described as a subspecies of Polygyra postelliana (Bland, 1859) by Pilsbry (1899: 141-142). According to Pilsbry (1948: 605), the  taxon is based on a specimen collected by Thomas Bland in "FLORIDA: Bauldingsville" (ANSP 57082; 10.1 mm) [see above images and Compendium of Daedalochila type material], but that place was never located by Pilsbry, and our searches have likewise been unrewarded. Pilsbry also recorded a single shell from Imri, Hamilton Co., FL (E.B. Chope!), and an unspecified number from Baldwin, Duval Co., FL.  We have collected only one empty shell of this species, a few miles north of Baldwin. (A congener, D. peninsulae (Pilsbry, 1948: 605) lived in the city limits but is  now extirpated incidental to roadway "improvement.") As with Bauldingsville, we have been unable to locate Imri in Hamilton Co. or anywhere else in FL.

Hubricht (1985: 37, 148) recorded D. subclausa from several other north FL counties, but our collections in some of his specific localities have revealed only D. hausmani.

    Given the low likelihood of obtaining topotypical material, and the lack of consensus on the conchological identification of D. subclausa, the discovery of a living colony with shells very closely approximating the holotype (see images above) is essential if molecular genetic methods are to be applied to the uncertain taxonomy of this and closely-related congeners. During late November, 2009, Brian Marshall discovered a colony consisting of both empty shells and living specimens in a farming area of northern St. Johns County (see above link).

Hubricht, L., 1985,  The distributions of the native land mollusks of the Eastern United States. Fieldiana 24(1359): pp. 1-191 + viii. June 28.
Pilsbry, H.A., 1899. Descriptions of new American land shells. The Nautilus 12(12): 140-142. April.
Pilsbry, H. A., 1948. Land Mollusca of North America north of Mexico vol 2 part 2. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. xlvi + 591-1113. March 19.

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