Review of the land snails of the genus Kora from Brazil, with description of eight new species and a new related genus Koltrora, including comparison with two Andean Neopetraeus species (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Orthalicoidea).

Abstract

The orthalicoidean genus Kora Simone, 2012 is reviewed. Three of the four known species are redescribed, including their anatomy. These species are K. corallina (the type species), K. nigra, and K. rupestris. Eight new species are introduced, all of which occur in the region of the São Francisco River, from the northern of Minas Gerais to the southern of Bahia, Brazil. They are K. tupan, K. ajar, K. aetheria, K. jimenezi, K. uhlei, K. kremerorum, K. vania, and K. curumim. All of them are described, including anatomical features, except the last three, which are based solely on shell characters. Another related genus is also described, Koltrora, with a single new species, K. pyrostoma. They are compared to an Andean genus, Neopetraeus (N. lobbii, N. tesselatus), which also exhibit similarities. This detailed phenotypic study was performed in several comparative ways, including a morphological phylogenetic approach, using other orthalicoideans with the same level of phenotypic details known. The single objective is to justify the current taxonomic scheme, and to provide a brief comparison with recent results based on molecular approaches. According to these preliminary results, the triad Neopetraeus-Koltrora-Kora is monophyletic, supported by 10 synapomorphies. Koltrora and Kora are sister taxa, supported by 11 synapomorphies. Kora is monophyletic, with strong support from 25 synapomorphies. Discussions on classification, phylogeny, anatomy, and comparison with other recent orthalicoidean literature are also included. Some newly identified and diagnostic structures are described, such as the odontophore pair of muscles m8, the accessory albumen chamber, a different kind of spermatophore, the exclusive kind of radula of Kora and Koltrora, and a calcified epiphragm, a rare feature in South American snails. Register ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2F13D53C-0A36-42FB-B936-D80E7C958259.