Marsupial' Freshwater
Zoosyst. Evol. 85 (2) 2009, 199–275 / DOI 10.1002/zoos.200900004 Diversity and disparity ‘down under’: Systematics, biogeography and reproductive modes of the ‘marsupial’ freshwater Thiaridae (Caenogastropoda, Cerithioidea) in Australia Matthias Glaubrecht*,1, Nora Brinkmann2 and Judith Pppe1 1 Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin, Department of Malacozoology, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany 2 University of Copenhagen, Institute of Biology, Research Group for Comparative Zoology, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract Received 11 May 2009 We systematically revise here the Australian taxa of the Thiaridae, a group of freshwater Accepted 15 June 2009 Cerithioidea with pantropical distribution and “marsupial” (i.e. viviparous) reproductive Published 24 September 2009 modes. On this long isolated continent, the naming of several monotypic genera and a plethora of species have clouded both the phylogenetical and biogeographical relation- ships with other thiarids, in particular in Southeast Asia, thus hampering insight into the evolution of Australian taxa and their natural history. Based on own collections during five expeditions to various regions in Australia between 2002 and 2007, the study of rele- vant type material and the comparison with (mostly shell) material from major Australian museum collections, we describe and document here the morphology (of adults and juve- niles) and radulae of all relevant thiarid taxa, discussing the taxonomical implications and nomenclatural consequences. Presenting comprehensive compilations of the occurrences for all Australian thiarid species, we document their geographical distribution (based on over 900 records) with references ranging from continent-wide to drainage-based pat- terns. We morphologically identify a total of eleven distinct species (also corroborated as distinct clades by molecular genetic data, to be reported elsewhere), of which six species are endemic to Australia, viz.
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