Vitrea ulrichi, Georgiev, Dilian & Dedov, Ivailo, 2014

Georgiev, Dilian & Dedov, Ivailo, 2014, Contribution to the knowledge of the Bulgarian species of the genus Vitrea (Gastropoda, Pristilomatidae) with the description of a new species, ZooKeys 396, pp. 1-11 : 3-4

Vitrea ulrichi sp. n.

Holotype.

Nw 6.25, H 2.1 mm, D 4.65 mm, Du 0.9 mm, Dlw 0.75 mm, Dpw 0.55 mm (SMF 341898).

Paratypes.

2 specimens (SMF 341899/2).

The remaining paratypes are stored in the collections of the authors.

Locus typicus.

Surroundings of the Benkovskata Cave, near the village of Cherni Vit, Teteven town district, Stara Planina Mts, Bulgaria, 15-16.11.2013, leg. D. Georgiev, 10 adult, 5 juvenile specimens, 42°50'44.2"N, 24°10'29.8"E, 650 m (Fig. 1).

Etymology.

The species is named after our colleague and good friend Ulrich Schneppat (Natural History Museum, Chur, Switzerland) with gratitude for his great contribution to the knowledge of Bulgarian gastropods and for providing many literature sources, as well as for long and useful discussions with us on snails and slugs by email or around camp fires during our expeditions throughout Bulgaria.

Diagnosis.

Of all the Vitrea species reported for Bulgaria, the new species differs by its larger size, large number of whorls, and the intensely radially striated and angular shell. Considering the other European species and those distributed in the neighboring area of Asia Minor, the new species is most similar to Vitrea kutschigi known from Dalmatia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, from which it differs by its coarsely striated and larger shell, higher spire, and position of the end of aperture edge on the last whorl, located at 1/3 of the last whorl in the Vitrea ulrichi sp. n. when compared to Vitrea kutschigi , where it is found on the upper side of the last whorl. The shape of the shell somewhat resembles that of Vitrea saboorii Neubert & Bössneck, 2013, but Vitrea ulrichi is bigger and has wider umbilicus.

Description.

The shell is translucent, yellowish-white, with 6.25-7 whorls which are densely and coarsely radially striated. The spire is low, broadly conical and elevated. The last whorl is angled at its periphery. The aperture is straight, moderately wide. In funnel perspective, the upper whorls are visible inside. The umbilicus is wide with a diameter of 0.75-1.05 mm, which represents approx. 1/5 of the shell’s diameter. The diameter of the last whorl width is less than 2 × the diameter of the penultimate whorl (Dlw 0.65-0.8 mm; Dpw 0.5-0.6 mm). The height of the shell is 2-2.35 mm. According to Welter-Schultes (2012), the shell of Vitrea kutschigi resembles the shell of the freshwater snail Bathyomphalus contortus (Linnaeus, 1758), while the shell of Vitrea ulrichi sp. n. is lens-like (Fig. 2).

Notes on the ecology.

The type locality represents the surrounding area of a limestone water cave, with a small spring flowing below the cave near its entrance, providing constant air and soil moisture. The locality, where the new species was found, is a steep carbonate rock on the right side of the cave, densely covered with broad leaf detritus, mainly from Fagus sylvatica . The area is occupied by Fagus sylvatica and Carpinus betulus trees and bushes, as well as mosses and ferns (mostly Asplenium scolopendrium ) covering the rocks (Fig. 1).

The terrestrial malacofauna diversity at the type locality was very rich. There were more than 20 species of land gastropods registered, within only on a few square meters of area: Carychium tridentatum (Risso, 1826), Agardhiella cf. pirotana Subai, 2011, Vallonia pulchella (O. F. Müller, 1774), Cochlicopa lubricella (Porro, 1838), Laciniaria cf. plicata (Draparnaud, 1801), Macedonica marginata ( Rossmässler, 1835), Alinda wagneri (A. J.Wagner, 1911), Vestia ranojevici (Pavlovic, 1912), Euconulus fulvus (O. F. Müller, 1774), Vitrea diaphana (Studer, 1829), Vitrea transsylvanica (Clessin, 1877), Vitrea bulgarica Damjanov & L. Pintér, 1969, Vitrea contracta (Westerlund, 1871), Aegopinella pura (Alder, 1830), Oxychilus glaber ( Rossmässler, 1838), Daudebardia brevipes (Draparnaud, 1805), Perforatella incarnata (O. F. Müller, 1774), Euomphalia strigella (Draparnaud, 1801), Cattania balcanica (Kobelt, 1876), and Cepaea vindobonensis ( Férussac, 1821).