ISSN 2755-3531
Peter Glöer & Vladimir Pešić
Abstract. New samples from Greece revealed a Planorbis sp. which could be identified as Planorbis atticus by comparing these specimens with topotypes of Bourguignat’s collection. The anatomy of P. atticus has been compared with that of Planorbis spp. living in neighbouring countries and revealed that P. atticus is distinct from P. planorbis, P. macedonicus, P. presbensis, and P. intermixtus, as well. Because the syntypes of P. atticus could not be found in Bourguignat’s collection in Geneva nor in Paris we designate a neotype. In addition new samples from Montenegro revealed an unknown Planorbis species, which we describe here as P. vitojensis n. sp., which seems to be closely related with P. carinatus O.F. Müller 1774, and P. kubanicus Soldatenko & Starobogatov 1998. A distribution map of the Planorbis spp. under discussion is given.
Key words. Planorbis atticus, Planorbis planorbis, Planorbis intermixtus, Planorbis carinatus, Planorbis kubanicus, Planorbis vitojensis n. sp., neotype
Date of publication. August 2010
Barna Páll-Gergely
Abstract. Recently collected material provided new information on the anatomy and taxonomy of Turkish clausiliids. Euxinastra (Odonteuxina) harchbelica sp. nov., Armenica (Armenica) laevicollis nemethi subsp. nov. and Strumosa strumosa erasmusi subsp. nov. are described here from Prov. Ordu, Erzurum-Erzincan and Bursa, respectively. Sumelia
latecostata Nordsieck 1994 is separated from Sumelia boniferae (Neubert 1993) as an independent species using anatomical data.
Key words. Clausiliidae, Mentissoideinae, taxonomy, Armenica, Euxinastra, Strumosa
Date of publication. August 2010
G. Manganelli, M. Bodon & F. Giusti
Abstract. I n recent years two interpretations of Arion alpinus Pollonera 1887 have been proposed: a valid species with a central European distribution or a junior synonym of Arion intermedius Normand 1852. Study of the original description and topotypes collected in the only precise Piedmontese locality mentioned by Pollonera (1887), Rivarossa Canavese, demonstrate that the second is correct. To prevent Pollonera’s species from continuing to be misinterpreted, a neotype of A. alpinus is designated from among these topotypes. The neotype clearly belongs to A. intermedius so the names are synonyms. Arion obesoductus Reischütz 1973, sometimes considered a synonym of A. alpinus, was described from juvenile specimens from Austria. Although a new study of adult topotypical specimens is desirable, anatomical re-examination of a paratype revealed characters typical of A. alpinus auctt. non Pollonera 1887, namely a long oviduct and a flat epiphallus papilla. These characters are also evident in adult specimens from Italy. The name A. obsesoductus is thus reinstated for Arion alpinus auctt. non Pollonera 1887, a species of several countries in Central Europe.
Key words. Arion alpinus, Arion obesoductus, neotype, taxonomy, alpine slugs
Date of publication. August 2010
Chirasak Sutcharit & Somsak Panha
Abstract. Morphological comparison of the two congeneric allopatric camaenid land snails, Chloritis bifoveata (Benson 1856) and C. diplochone Möllendorff 1898, was evaluated. Both species show strong similarities in some unique characters such as the extraordinary biconcave shell shape. However, the species differ in shell size with C. bifoveata the smaller of the two, and also in length of the penis and vagina, again shorter in C. bifoveata. The penis and vagina are of almost equal length and size in C. bifoveata are almost equal but in C. diplochone the penis is longer and more slender than the vagina. The distributions of the species are also very different with C. bifoveata occurring in southern Myanmar, Thailand and northern Malaysia and C. diplochone in eastern Thailand to the Indochina region.
Key words. Chloritis, Camaenidae, land snail, Gastropoda, Thailand
Date of publication. August 2010
Biogeography of the deep-sea gastropod Oocorys sulcata Fischer 1884
Michael A. Rex, Carol T. Stuart, Ron J. Etter & Craig R. McClain
Abstract. The deep-sea gastropod Oocorys sulcata attains unusually large size, has a broad geographic range including the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, maintains a global bathymetric range from the shelf-slope transition to the abyss, and is locally very rare. The extreme scale of its body size-distribution-abundance relationships presents a theoretical challenge to deep-sea ecology.
Key words. Deep sea, Oocorys sulcata, gastropod, biogeography, body size
Date of publication. August 2010
Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Ghana: Polyceridae
Malcolm Edmunds
Abstract. Descriptions are given of six species of Doridoidea belonging to the family Polyceridae from Ghana, West Africa. Thecacera pennigera and Polycerella emertoni have wide geographical ranges and may have travelled on boat bottoms from their original sites. Kaloplocamus ramosus also has a wide geographical range but there is little evidence of it travelling on boats. The remaining three species, Limacia annulata, Polycera sp. and Paliolla templadoi, are only known from West Africa and nearby islands. The species of Polycera probably belongs to a currently undescribed species.
Key words. Atlantic nudibranchs, Polyceridae, Kaloplocamus, Paliolla, Thecacera
Date of publication. August 2010
A new species of Spixia from Argentina (Gastropoda, Stylommatop hora, Odontostominae)
Eugenia Salas Oroño
Abstract. A new species of Spixia is described in the context of a revision of the genus. Spixia cuezzae is distributed in the mountain area of Punilla political department, Córdoba, Argentina. The shell is characterised by its fusiform shape sculptured with tall thin ribs separated by narrow intervals and a sub-oval to sub-circular aperture. A large and muscular penial sheath is observed internally. In Spixia, the sculpture of the penis wall is important for differentiation of the species. Spixia cuezzae is characterized by a muscle group forming an inverted V-shape in penial area I. Penial area III exhibits zigzag folds which form a transition and are continuous with penial area IV where the folds straighten longitudinally towards the distal part of the penis. This kind of sculpture has not been observed in other species of the genus. Spixia cuezzae was compared with its most similar species, S. costellifer (Haas 1936) and S. philippii (Doering 1874). Spixia cuezzae differs from them not only in the shell shape, size and teleoconch sculpture but also in some genital characters such as penial sheath length and thickness as well as sculpture of the penial wall.
Key words. Spixia, Odontostominae, shell ultra structure, genital anatomy, Argentina.
Date of publication. August 2010
Tamás Deli
Abstract. Agardhiella tunde spec. nov. is described from the Piscuri Gorge (N of Vâlcele), Vâlcan Mts., Romania. Another population of this species has been found in the Sohodol Gorge (N of Runcu) and in the Şuşiţa Valley (N of Pârvulesţi). Owing to the trapezoid shape of the aperture, this taxon resembles mainly Agardhiella banatica (Zilch 1958); however, it is different considering the structure of the palatal and basal folds of the aperture, and the presence of a parietal lamella and a palatal tooth. The new species and the accompanying fauna observed on its localities can, in zoogeographical terms, be well integrated into the Banaticum fauna characterized by the abundance of Carpathian and Balkan elements and endemisms.
Key words. Agardhiella, Argnidae, new species, Romania, Banaticum
Date of publication. August 2010
Diego Eduardo Gutiérrez Gregoric
Abstract. The Chilinidae comprises 17 species currently cited for Argentina, mostly distributed in Patagonia. All original descriptions of these species have been based on shell characters, and their internal anatomy is poorly known. Characters of the shell, radula and nervous system are described here for two endemic species of Chilinidae from Del Plata basin (South America), Chilina rushii Pilsbry and C. gallardoi Castellanos & Gaillard. Materials were collected during the years 2000 and 2005 in the rivers Uruguay and Río de La Plata from Del Plata basin, Argentina. Shell: Chilina gallardoi shows, sometimes, the keel in the last whorl, and the most significant difference between these species are the length of the aperture and the size of the last whorl. Radula: it has 58 rows in C. gallardoi, whereas in C. rushii it has 48 rows; first lateral is tricuspid in C. gallardoi, whereas in C. rushii is tetracuspid; last teeth have up to five cusps in C. gallardoi, whereas in C. rushii they have up to seven. Nervous system: differences between the species are based in the distances between the ganglions, and the one that shows the most significant difference is the distance between the left pleural and the parietal. As a conclusion, some measures of shells (mainly the ones that are relationed with the aperture) as well as the length between the nervous ganglia and characteristics of radula, can be used to differentiate species of Chilindae in the Del Plata basin.
Key words. Argentina, freshwater molluscs, Chilina gallardoi, Chilina rushii
Date of publication. August 2010
G. Manganelli & V. Spadini
Abstract. Onustus plioextensus (Sacco 1896) is a Mediterranean Pliocene xenophorid characterized by a large fragile shell with wide thin peripheral flange, porcellanous below. It is only known from the Piacenzian (Middle Pliocene) of central northern Italy and is very similar to the west Atlantic Onustus longleyi (Bartsch 1931). If the morphological similarity between these two xenophorids is not a result of convergent evolution and testifies to real affinity, then they constitute a group of closely related species with amphi-Atlantic distribution, a biogeographical pattern suggested for certain gastropod species mainly belonging to the tonnoideans.
Key words. Xenophorids, Onustus plioextensus, taxonomy, palaeontology, biogeography, Pliocene
Date of publication. August 2010
Evelyn A. Moorkens
Abstract. The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera is in serious decline in Europe and is protected under the EU Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC). In the Republic of Ireland, most populations require habitat rehabilitation through catchment management in order to secure their future. A series of six filters have been developed to aid prioritisation of measures to be undertaken in order to provide the best return for effort in terms of attaining sustainable populations in favourable conservation status. The results show that prioritisation of the largest populations in the closest to sustainable conditions is of key importance, and that appropriate catchment management measures need to be urgently implemented as there can be a long time delay in the recovery of suitable habitat conditions. The methodology may serve as an example and could be adapted by other countries to produce a scientific rationale for their own prioritisation strategies.
Key words. Margaritifera margaritifera, freshwater bivalves, catchment management, conservation strategy
Date of publication. August 2010
New records of Aciculidae from Turkey [Short Communication]
Bernhard Hausdorf
Date of publication. August 2010
Pseudotrichia rubiginosa (A. Schmidt 1853) (Hygromiidae) in northern France [Short Communication]
Xavier Cucherat
Date of publication. August 2010
Malacolimax tenellus (Müller 1774) (Pulmonata: Limacidae) in the North Midlands of England [Short Communication]
Keith N. A. Alexander
Date of publication. August 2010
Book Review: Land Snails of the Land of Israel. Natural History and a Field Guide by J. Heller, 2009
Eike Neubert
Date of publication. August 2010
Book Review: Ireland Red List No. 2 – Non-Marine Molluscs by A. Byrne, E.A. Moorkens, R. Anderson, I.J. Killeen & E.C. Regan, 2009
Keith Alexander
Date of publication. August 2010