TAXONOMIC REVIEW OF THE TREE SNAIL AMPHIDROMUS ALBERS, 1850 (PULMONATA: CAMAENIDAE) IN THAILAND AND ADJACENT AREAS: SUBGENUS AMPHIDROMUS

Extensive series of Amphidromus Albers, 1850 were collectedfrom low-altitude areas (30–500 m above sea level)in Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia between1993 and 2004. Data on shell colour, genital and spermatophoremorphology, and radular structure are presented. Five speciesof Amphidromus (Amphidromus) are reviewed, of which four occurin Thailand. Intraspecific variation between populations ofAmphidromus (Amphidromus) atricallosus (Gould, 1843) is considered;three subspecies are accepted and a new subspecies described.Subspecies of A. (A.) inversus (Müller, 1774) and A. (A.)schomburgki (Pfeiffer, 1861) are reconsidered, and a new subspeciesof the latter is described. A dichotomous key to the speciesand subspecies of Amphidromus (Amphidromus) in Thailand is provided. (Received 7 May 2004; accepted 31 March 2005)     

Enantiomorphs differ in shape in opposite directions between populations

Abstract Development is left–right reversed between dextral and sinistral morphs of snails. In sympatry, they share the same gene pool, including polygenes for shell shape. Nevertheless, their shell shapes are not the mirror images of each other. This triggered a debate between hypotheses that argue either for a developmental constraint or for zygotic pleiotropic effects of the polarity gene. We found that dextrals can be wider or narrower than sinistrals depending on the population, contrary to the prediction of invariable deviation under a developmental constraint. If the pleiotropy is solely responsible instead, the mean shape of each morph should change, depending on the frequency of polarity genotype. Our simulations of this mean shape change under zygotic pleiotropy, however, show that the direction of interchiral difference remains the same regardless of genotype frequency. Our results suggest the presence of genetic variation among populations that changes the maternal or zygotic pleiotropic effect of the polarity gene.