Cochlostoma martorelli esseranum (Fagot, 1888)

Gofas, Serge, 2001, The systematics of Pyrenean and Cantabrian Cochlostoma (Gastropoda, Cyclophoroidea) revisited, Journal of Natural History 35 (9), pp. 1277-1369 : 1303-1306

Cochlostoma martorelli esseranum (Fagot, 1888)

The population from Campo is quite homogeneous in appearance, and specimens from there are rather small and narrow-spired, with blurred patterns on the shell, and whitish ribs which give a greyish appearance even on fresh shells (®gure 18f,g). The examined specimens from Campo are ®xed for LAP A allele which distinguish it from the remainder of C. martorelli . This is the type locality of Pomatias esseranus Fagot, 1888 .

Populations south of the Ebro river. Specimens from the population at PenÄagolosa, province of CastelloÂn (®gure 18 h) are separated from the main distribution of C. martorelli by the Ebro valley. They are large (15 mm), with strong ribs (six or seven ribs/mm on penultimate whorl, seven to eight on body whorl), and have whitish zones on the ribs which are interrupted to delineate three darker bands (subsutural, peripheral, and peri-umbilical on body whorl). There is no available name based on that population, but I prefer not to name it as there are no allozyme data either.

Remarks

Bo®ll and Haas (1918) and Haas (1929) considered C. martorelli as a geographical subspecies of C. obscurum . Some populations of C. martorelli indeed resemble C. obscurum , and the allozyme data show that C. obscurum and C. martorelli belong to one monophyletic group. However, the genetic distances are well within the range of interspeci®c ones (see ®gure 39).

The smooth forms in OrganÄa canyon may be confused with C. hidalgoi owing to their colour. The most obvious morphological clue to distinguish them is the shape of the lip at the columellar end, which is narrowed abruptly in C. martorelli and progressively in C. hidalgoi . Raven (1990) considered C. martorelli as a geographical subspecies of C. hidalgoi . This is not supported by the allozyme data, the main point being that C. martorelli shares some ®xed alleles at the most conservative loci (SOD, MDH, MPI) with C. obscurum and not with C. hidalgoi .

Habitat

This species is generally found on exposed limestone surfaces, on which the estivating individuals stay apparent and select sites of appropriate orientation.