Andrefrancia solem, 1960 (Gastropoda: pulmonata: charopidae) - a systematic revision

The revision of the endemic New Caledonian genus Andrefrancia Solem, 1960 is based on 1,167 specimens from 108 localities (collection Paris Museum of Natural History). Seventeen earlier described species are revised, and 33 new species are described; data on further six species, absent from the Paris collection but included in Andrefrancia, are cited. Identification keys, synonymy, conchological and anatomical descriptions and figures, as well as distribution maps are provided. Phylogeny reconstruction used 21 conchological characters with 64 character states, and 26 characters of the reproductive system with 62 character states. The characters were polarised based on out-group comparison (out-groups: Charopidae from the Pacific islands, Australia, New Zealand, Juan Fernandez and Chile; Endodontidae from the Pacific islands) and ontogenetic criterion. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: (1) is the genus monophyletic? (2) are species groups within the genus monophyletic? (3) what are phylogenetic relationships among the species and their groups? Difficulties resulted from incompleteness of data (only shells available for some species), frequent instances of convergent evolution and consequent paucity of unequivocal apomorphies which would define monophyletic groups. As a result the phylogenies provided are only preliminary, and any formal classification changes would be premature. Based on combination of characters the genus was divided into seven groups; most species were assigned to groups distinguished by earlier authors; one new group was proposed. The geographical distribution was analysed in terms of endemism, but the lack of unequivocal phylogeny made it impossible to analyse it in the light of evolutionary relationships.