A new species of the genus Heterogen (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda: Viviparidae) from the Pleistocene Katata Formation of the Kobiwako Group, Shiga Prefecture, central Japan

Abstract

A new species of viviparid gastropod belonging to the genus Heterogen Annandale, 1921, is described from the Pleistocene Katata Formation of the Kobiwako Group in the southern part of Lake Biwa, central Japan. This new species is continuously recorded from the Nijigaoka Clays (1.2 Ma) to the Hiraen Clays (0.8 Ma) of the Katata Formation. This new species, Heterogen praelongispira sp. nov. is similar to the extant H. longispira in Lake Biwa, but the details of shell morphology are different from those of H. longispira, including fine-to-deep suture, flattened whorl side, and oval shape of embryonic shell.