Euchondrus adwani, Eike Neubert & Zuhair Amr, 2016

Eike Neubert & Zuhair Amr, 2016, On a new species of Euchondrus Boettger, 1883 from Syria (Pulmonata: Enidae), Zoology in the Middle East 62, pp. 58-60 : 58-60

Euchondrus adwani n. sp.

( Figure 1 )

Material : Holotype NMBE 539263 ; paratype NMBE 539264 /1. Type locality: Syria, surrounding of the monastery of Deir Moussa, 34.0219°N 36.8423°E, 1300 m a.s.l., 11.iii. 2010, leg. Adwan Shehab.

Measurements (holotype): Height = 11.04 mm; diameter = 4.13 mm; peristome height = 4.03 mm; peristome diameter = 2.97 mm; number of whorls = 8.

Diagnosis. Euchondrus adwani n. sp. differs from the widespread E. septemdentatus by its conical shell (broadly oval in E. septemdentatus ), its flat suture and teleoconch whorls (suture deeper, whorls much more rounded in E. septemdentatus ), the heavy palatal labial callus (weaker in E. septemdentatus ), the bar-like subangularis (weaker in E. septemdentatus ), and the keeled last whorl (rounded in E. septemdentatus ).

Description: Shell solid, dextral, cylindrical, upper part cylindro-conical in outline; shell pale brownish to horny yellow coloured; 8 rather flat-sided teleoconch whorls, suture flat with a distinct white sutural thread; teleoconch smooth, glossy, last whorl with fine, straight and irregularly spaced striae; aperture subtriangular, peristome strongly thickened by a labial callus, moderately reflected, with a rich dentition (description clockwise): palatum with a small suturalis followed by a conical palatalis superior and a broad infrapalatalis with the latter two denticles placed on a thick callus; columellar side with a basalis and a straight columellaris; parietum with a strong and long parietalis, bordered by a small spiralis, subangularis large, bar-like, left side of the parietum with another small denticle at the attachment site of the peristome; last teleoconch whorl dorsally compressed forming a distinct blunt ridge (arrows); umbilicus slit-like open, periomphalum large, dish-like.

Remarks: This species shows some superficial similarities with E. desertorum Rochanaburananda in Forcart, 1981 ( Figure 2 ), which is endemic to the Negev Desert ( Heller, 2009). Both species have a straight conical shell, but E. desertorum is considerably larger than E. adwani n. sp. and its aperture is rounded and not subtriangular. It also differs in the formation of the dentition: in E. desertorum , the infrapalatalis is bifid (simple in E. adwani ), the spiralis is large and connected to the parietalis (small and disconnected in E. adwani ), and the subangularis is weaker (very strong in E. adwani ). The last whorl of E. adwani displays a distinct keel with an enlarged periomphalum, while in E. desertorum the dorsum is rounded, and the periomphalum is much smaller. Etymology: This species is named in honour of Dr. Adwan Shawabi, who was a keen collector of molluscs from Syria, and a personal friend, and who was killed in February 2015 in the Syrian civil war ( Amr, 2015).

Figures

Figure 1 – 2. 1 - Euchondrus adwani, n. sp., holotype NMBE 539263, Syria, monastery of Deir Moussa. – 2 - Euchondrus desertorum, Negev, 1 km W Sedé Boqer, 0 6.03. 1962, leg. H. Sandler, coll. Bank. — Photograph: E. Bochud.