New paper on flamboyant tropical snails
Three new species to science of Lamprohaminoea snails
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The genus Lamprohaminoea includes species of colourful haminoeid snails associated with coral reefs and
rocky shores in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. In this work, we revise the diversity and systematics of Lamprohaminoea
species based on a phylogenetic hypothesis and on a detailed morphological analysis of specimens. Shells, external
features of the animals and anatomical characters from the jaws, radula, gizzard plates, and male reproductive system
were studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, a molecular species delimitation analysis
based on the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery method using DNA sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit
I was implemented. Five species were recognised, three of them new to science, namely L. cymbalum, L. ovalis,
L. vamiziensis sp. nov., L. evelinae sp. nov., and L. mikkelsenae sp. nov. Morphologically, these species can be
separated by subtle differences of their external colouration and by features of the male reproductive system.
Lamprohaminoea vamiziensis sp. nov. is known only from the western Indian Ocean and L. evelinae sp. nov.,
from the west Pacific, whereas the other three occur across the Indo-West Pacific realm.