''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 molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ...

(

Eupulmonata Eupulmonata is a taxonomic clade of air-breathing gastropod molluscs. The great majority of this group are land snails and slugs, but some are intertidal or inhabit coastal saltmarshes and mangroves. Possible synapomorphy of the group are gl ...

Ellobioidea Ellobiidae, common name the hollow-shelled snails, is a family (biology), family of small air-breathing Land snail, land, Sea snail, marine, and brackish snails; pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata.Bouchet, P. (2012). Ellobiida ...

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 is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, 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 A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal e ...

.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 many gastropods, including snails, 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 ...

. The

peristome Peristome (from the Greek language, 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 mo ...

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). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

. 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 () 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 very rugged, ...

in the

North Chungcheong Province North Chungcheong Province (), 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 on the south-centre of the Korean Peninsula. No ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, 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, from1=Q20819239, from2=Q20819238, KNSL2=yes Ellobiidae Monotypic gastropod genera Gastropods described in 2015 Endemic fauna of South Korea