Hidden diversity in China's Sky Islands: Three new freshwater snail species of Erhaiidae (Gastropoda, Truncatelloidea) from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

By

Chen, Hui
Xie, Guanglong
Li, Jun-Xi
Chen, Zhongguang
Dai, Yu-Ting
He, Yue Ming
Xiang, Hong-Quan
Huang, Xiao-Chen
Wu, Xiaoping

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-8-1

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

1359--1368

Subjects

Asian uplift , Biogeography , Erhaiidae , molecular phylogeny , sky islands , Sky Islands , Sky Islands , species diversification

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.156891

 

Abstract

Alpine freshwater ecosystems in southwestern China, particularly those exhibiting sky-island characteristics (geographically isolated high-elevation habitats surrounded by contrasting lowlands), represent critical yet understudied hotspots for aquatic biodiversity evolution. The minute gastropod genus Erhaia (<3 mm shell height) exemplifies this pattern, with species distributed across fragmented high-elevation streams from the Himalayas to eastern China. Despite 20 described species, the group’s diversity is likely underestimated due to their small size, collection neglect, and the lack of recent records—including the type species, E. daliensis, which has not been recollected since its original description. During field surveys conducted in 2023–2024, we rediscovered E. daliensis at its type locality in Yunnan, Chinas, and identified three new species: E. xiaoboqiani H. Chen, Y.-M. He, H.-Q. Xiang & X.-P. Wu, sp. nov., Erhaia guizhouensis H. Chen, Y.-M. He, H.-Q. Xiang & X.-P. Wu, sp. nov., and Erhaia bailong H. Chen, Y.-M. He, H.-Q. Xiang & X.-P. Wu, sp. nov. from mountain streams in Yunnan and Guizhou. Combining morphological and molecular evidence (mitochondrial COI, 16S; nuclear 18S, 28S), we formally describe these taxa and discuss their biogeographic implications for understanding diversification in sky-island-like freshwater systems.