''Koreozospeum'' is a genus of small air-breathing

land snails A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

(

Eupulmonata Eupulmonata is a taxonomic clade of air-breathing snails. The great majority of this group are land snails and slugs, but some are marine and some are saltmarsh snails that can tolerate salty conditions. Linnean taxonomy *Suborder Eupulmonat ...

Ellobioidea Ellobiidae, common name the hollow-shelled snails, is a family of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata.Bouchet, P. (2012). Ellobiidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Sp ...

Carychiinae Carychiinae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic Subfamily (biology), subfamily of minute air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Carychiinae Jeffreys, 1830. ...

). It contains a single species, ''Koreozospeum nodongense''.

Etymology

The name of ''Koreozospeum'' derives from

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, where this genus was first found. The second part of the name refers to its similarity to the European subterranean carychiid genus

Zospeum ''Zospeum'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ellobiidae, the salt marsh snails. Species Species within the genus ''Zospeum'' include: ** '' Zospeum allegrettii'' Conci, 1956 ** '' ...

.Jochum, A., Prozorova, L., Sharyi-ool, M., & Páll-Gergely, B. (2015). A new member of troglobitic Carychiidae, Koreozospeum nodongense gen. et sp. n.(Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea) is described from Korea. ZooKeys, (517), 39.

Description

''Koreozospeum'' has a thin, squat ovate-conic shell, which shows fine spiral rows of interconnected pits constant throughout the

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some ...

. The

peristome Peristome (from the Greek ''peri'', meaning 'around' or 'about', and ''stoma'', 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes. In mosses In mosses, ...

has an oblique, ear-shaped (auriform) form. The shell shows a conspicuously pleated lip folded back onto the body

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

. Koreozospeum has an interrupted lamellar ridge on the next to last whorl, which then develops a uniformly shaped annular lamella.

Distribution and habitat

This species is only known from the type locality, Nodong cave in

Danyang County Danyang County (''Danyang-gun'') is in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Symbols *County tree: Yew tree *County bird: Magpie *County flower: Royal Azalea Geography The geographical terrain is 83.7% mountainous and 11.2% cultivable. It is ...

in the

North Chungcheong Province North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the s ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, where the shells were collected in 2000 at an altitude of ca. 271 m. Individuals occur on moist muddy walls in the cave.

Conservation

The caves in Danyang County are majorly threatened due to large cement factories located in the region. In addition, the caves of Nodong, Gosu and Cheondong are popular tourist attractions. The frequent human traffic is an immediate threat for the species. Currently, ''Koreozospeum nodongense'' is known to inhabit only one locality and this area is declining due to human encroachment.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20819239 Ellobiidae Monotypic gastropod genera Molluscs described in 2015 Endemic fauna of South Korea