Genus LANISTES Montfort, 1810

LANISTES Montfort, 1810: 122 . Type species: Lanistes olivierii Montfort, 1810 [as “ Oliverii ”, lapsus calami; = carinata Olivier, 1804], by original designation.

Remarks. Misspelled as “ Lanites ” by Swainson (1840: 339).

MELADOMUS Swainson, 1840: 340 . Type species: Meladomus bulimoides Swainson, 1840 [= Ampullaria purpurea Jonas, 1839], by monotypy.

Remarks. Gray (1847: 148), followed by G.B. Sowerby III (1916: 68), considered Paludina olivacea G.B. Sowerby I as the type species, although bulimoides Swainson was the only originally included species. Synonym of Lanistes Montfort, teste Berthold (1991: 201, 246).

LEROYA Grandidier, 1887: 191 . Type species: Leroya bourguignati Grandidier, 1887 [= farleri Craven, 1880], by subsequent designation of Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 199).

Remarks. Synonym of Lanistes Montfort, teste Berthold (1991: 201, 246).

BOLTENIANA Bourguignat, 1889: 178 [as section of Meladomus Swainson]. Type species: Cyclostoma carinata Olivier, 1804, by subsequent designation of Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 183).

Remarks. Synonym of Lanistes Montfort, teste Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 183).

LIBYCIANA Bourguignat, 1889: 176 [as section of Meladomus Swainson]. Type species: Ampullaria libyca Morelet, 1848, by subsequent designation of Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 183).

Remarks. Synonym of Lanistes Montfort, teste Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 183).

NYASSANA Bourguignat, 1889: 179 [as section of Meladomus Swainson]. Type species: Lanistes nyassanus Dohrn, 1865, by monotypy.

Remarks. Synonym of Lanistes Montfort, teste Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 183).

OLIVACEANA Bourguignat, 1889: 172 [as section of Meladomus Swainson]. Type species: not designated.

PURPURIANA Bourguignat, 1889: 170 [as section of Meladomus Swainson]. Type species: not designated.

PLESIOLANISTES Berthold, 1991: 210, 247. Type species: Helix varica Müller, 1774, by monotypy. N. syn.

Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927) and Brown (1980, 1994) treated Meladomus Swainson, Leroya Grandidier and Lanistes s . str. as subgenera of Lanistes Montfort. However, all are here treated as synonyms of Lanistes Montfort, following Berthold (1991: 202), who considered that these subdivisions may not be valid and that the genus Lanistes be subdivided into only two subgenera, Lanistes s. str . and Lanistes subg. Plesiolanistes Berthold. Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 187) thought that Lanistes nyassanus Dohrn “seemingly belongs in a distinct group” but refrained from formally treating Nyassana Bourguignat as a valid subgenus. Plesiolanistes Berthold was erected on very little basis for a single species and is here treated as a synonym of Lanistes Montfort.

+ adansoni

Meladomus adansoni Kobelt, 1911: 18, pl. 24, fig. 6. Type material — holotype [by monotypy]: SMF 7466. Type locality —“Senegambien” [Senegal and Gambia]. Distribution — Senegal, Gambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927: 196–197).

Remarks. The original description was explicitly based on a single shell that Kobelt had had in his possession for many years. The SMF shell matches the description well and is therefore considered the holotype by monotypy (Code, Art. 73.1.2). Form of ovum Troschel, teste Boettger (1913: 106). Valid species, teste Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 196). Form of varica Müller, teste Brown (1980: 50, 1994: 60), followed here.

aegyptiaca

Ampullaria aegyptiaca Jickeli, 1874: 227 . Unavailable name: first published as a junior synonym of carinata Olivier; not treated as an available name or adopted as the name of a taxon before 1961 (Code, Art. 11.6).

Remarks. Name attributed to “Ehrenb. Mus. Berol” by Jickeli (1874: 227), apparently based only on labels associated with the shells (9 spms.) in Berlin (ZMB 13929; M. Glaubrecht pers. comm. 7 & 8 May 2013), as it seems not to have been published prior to this. Treated as a synonym of carinata Olivier by G.B. Sowerby III (1916: 65; as “ aegyptica ”) and Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 186).

affinis

Lanistes affinis Smith, 1878: 716, pl. 74. fig. 7. Type material — syntype: NHMUK 1877.9.28.25 (1 spm., labelled “ type ” and “ holotype ”). Type locality —“Lake Nyassa” [in publication title].

Remarks. Variety of ovum Troschel, teste Kobelt (1909: 79, 1911: 12). Valid species, teste Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927: 194). Synonym of ovum Troschel and ellipticus Martens, teste G.B. Sowerby III (1916: 67) and Brown (1994: 63), respectively, followed here.

+ albersi

Meladomus (Lanistes) libycus albersi Kobelt, 1912b: 25, pl. 23, figs. 5, 6. Type material — holotype [by monotypy, the specimen figured as “ Lanistes libycus var .” by Martens (1866, pl. 70, figs. 5, 6)]: ZMB 109. Type locality —“ Gabon ”. Distribution —no additional information.