Taxonomic revision of the subterranean genus Virpazaria Gittenberger, 1969 (Gastropoda, Spelaeodiscidae)

  • Zoltán Fehér Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, Budapest, H-1088 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4888-1156
  • Tamás Deli Móricz Zsigmond u. 2, Gyomaendrőd, H-5500
  • Zoltán P. Erőss Bem u. 36., Budapest, H-1151
  • Romilda Lika Departament of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana University, Bulevardi Zogu i Parë, Tiranë, AL-1001
Keywords: Balkan, shallow subterranean habitat (MSS), new taxa, microendemic species, limestone habitat

Abstract

Virpazaria Gittenberger, 1969 is distributed in the Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Montenegro and Croatia) and inhabits the shallow subterranean habitat (MSS) on limestone base rock. Reviewing historical and recently collected material, two species, Virpazaria (Virpazaria) gittenbergeri Fehér & Erőss sp. nov. and Virpazaria (Virpazaria) pesici Fehér & Deli sp. nov., are introduced as new to science. The conservation status of the new species are assessed using IUCN criteria. Two taxa, Virpazaria (Virpazaria) pageti alexanderi Reischütz & Subai, 2012 and Virpazaria (Aemiliella) ripkeni pastorpueri Reischütz et al., 2011, are synonymized with their nominate subspecies. Some new distribution records, as well as geological and geomorphological data about the known locations for Virpazaria, are presented.

References

Arndt E. & Subai P. 2013. Gastropoda from subterranean habitats in Greece. Vernate 31/2012: 213–224.

Bole J. 1965. Die Vertreter der Gattung Spelaeodiscus Brusina 1886 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) in Jugoslawien. International Journal of Speleology 1 (3): 349–356. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.1.3.9

Camacho A.I. 1992. The Natural History of Biospeleology. Monografıas del M.N.C.N. 7. CSIC, Madrid.

Culver D.C. & Pipan T. 2014. Shallow Subterranean Habitats. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Fehér Z., Mason K., Szekeres M., Haring E., Bamberger S., Páll-Gergely B. & Sólymos P. 2018. Range-constrained co-occurrence simulation reveals little niche partitioning among rock-dwelling Montenegrina land snails (Gastropoda: Clausiliidae). Journal of Biogeography 45 (6): 1444–1457. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13220

Gittenberger E. 1969. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Pupillacea. I. Die Spelaeodiscinae. Zoologische Mededelingen 43 (22): 287–306.

Gittenberger E. 1975. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Pupillacea. V. Die Spelaeodiscinae, erster Nachtrag. Zoologische Mededelingen 48 (23): 263–277.

Gittenberger E. 1988. Über Virpazaria (V.) pageti Gittenberger 1969, Gyralina (G.) pageti n. sp. und deren Sekundärfundorte (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 90B: 423–426.

Gittenberger E. 2015. Caving for snails in northern Albania. Basteria 79 (1–3): 23–29.

Hudec V. 1965. Neue Erkenntnisse über den Geschlechtsapparat von Argna bielzi (Rossmässler) und Bemerkungen zur systematischen Stellung der Gattung Argna. Archiv für Molluskenkunde 94: 157–165.

Juberthie C., Delay B. & Bouillon M. 1980. Sur l’existence du milieu souterrain superficiel en zone non calcaire. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de la France D 290: 49–52.

Juberthie C.B., Delay B. & Bouillon M. 1981. Sur lʼexistence dʼun milieu souterrain superficiel en zone calcaire. Mémoires de Biospéologie 8: 77–93.

Kerney M.P. & Cameron R.A.D. 1979. A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-West Europe. Collins, London.

Mammola S., Giachino P.M., Piano E., Jones A., Barberis M., Badino G. & Isaia M. 2016. Ecology and sampling techniques of an understudied subterranean habitat: the Milieu Souterrain Superficiel (MSS). The Science of Nature 103: 88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1413-9

Mikinčić V. 1953. Geološka Karta FNR Jugoslavije i susednih Zemalja 1 : 500 000. Naučna Knjiga, Belgrade.

MMKS 1983. Harta gjeologjike e RPS të Shqipërisë: Shkalla 1 : 200 000. Mjeteve Mësimore, Kulturore e Sportive “Hamid Shijaku”, Tirana.

Páll-Gergely B., Deli T., Erőss Z.P., Reischütz P.L., Reischütz A. & Fehér Z. 2018. Revision of the subterranean genus Spelaeodiscus Brusina, 1886 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Spelaeodiscidae). ZooKeys 769:13–48. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.769.25258

Reischütz A. & Reischütz P.L. 2009. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Molluskenfauna von Montenegro, nebst Beschreibung zweier neuer Arten der Gattung Virpazaria Gittenberger 1969. Nachrichtenblatt der Ersten Vorarlberger Malakologischen Gesellschaft 16: 51–60.

Reischütz A. & Reischütz P.L. 2012. Virpazaria nicoleae nov. spec. (Spelaeodiscidae: Pulmonata: Gastropoda) aus Montenegro. Nachrichtenblatt der Ersten Vorarlberger Malakologischen Gesellschaft 19: 17–18.

Reischütz A., Reischütz N. & Reischütz P.L. 2010. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Molluskenfauna Albaniens. Nachrichtenblatt der Ersten Vorarlberger Malakologischen Gesellschaft 17: 29–31.

Reischütz A., Reischütz N. & Reischütz P.L. 2011. Anmerkungen zur Verbreitung von Virpazaria Gittenberger 1969 (Spelaeodiscidae: Gastropoda) und bemerkenswerte Mollusken aus Albanien. Nachrichtenblatt der Ersten Vorarlberger Malakologischen Gesellschaft 18: 57–60.

Reischütz P.L., Štamol V. & Subai P. 2012. Description of two new subspecies of Virpazaria pageti Gittenberger 1969 from Croatia (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Spelaeodiscidae). Archiv für Molluskenkunde 141 (1): 31–34. https://doi.org/10.1127/arch.moll/1869-0963/141/031-034

Rendoš M., Čejka T., Šteffek J. & Mock A. 2014. Land snails from subterranean traps exposed in a forested scree slope (Western Carpathians, Slovakia). Folia Malacologica 22 (4): 255–261. https://doi.org/10.12657/folmal.022.022

Schileyko A.A. 1998. Treatise on Recent Terrestrial Pulmonate Molluscs, Part 1. Achatinellidae, Amastridae, Orculidae, Strobilopsidae, Spelaeodiscidae, Valloniidae, Cochlicopidae, Pupillidae, Chondrinidae, Pyramidulidae. Ruthenica, Supplement 2 (1): 1–127.

Schneider C.A., Rasband W.S. & Eliceiri K.W. 2012. NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods 9 (7): 671–675. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2089

Subai P. 2009. New land snails from Montenegro and Albania. Archiv für Molluskenkunde 138 (1): 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1127/arch.moll/0003-9284/138/103-112

Subai P. & Dedov I. 2008. A review of the Bulgarian species of Aspasita Westerlund, 1889 (Gastropoda; Pulmonata; Spelaeodiscidae), with description of A. bulgarica spec. nov. Basteria 72: 111–118.

Welter-Schultes F.W. 2012. European Non-marine Molluscs, a Guide for Species Identification. Planet Poster Editions, Göttingen.

Published
2019-09-26
How to Cite
Fehér, Z., Deli, T., Erőss, Z. P., & Lika, R. (2019). Taxonomic revision of the subterranean genus Virpazaria Gittenberger, 1969 (Gastropoda, Spelaeodiscidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, (558). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2019.558