Platyla gracilis ( Clessin, 1877 )

Lika, Romilda, Deli, Tamás, Paparisto, Anila, Erőss, Zoltán P. & Fehér, Zoltán, 2021, Contribution to the taxonomy and distribution of Aciculidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) in Albania and the surroundings, Zootaxa 5004 (1), pp. 131-150 : 139

Platyla gracilis ( Clessin, 1877)

Figs 6O–R

* Acme gracilis Clessin 1877: 42 .

Acicula (Platyla) graeca Subai P. 1976: 120 , fig. 2.

Acicula (Platyla) graeca Subai, 1976 —Zilch, A. 1976: 124.

Platyla gracilis ( Clessin, 1877) —Boeters, H.D., Gittenberger, E. & Subai, P. 1989: 119, figs 117–122, 135, 147, 148

Platyla gracilis ( Clessin, 1877) —Welter-Schultes, F.W. 2012: 79, unnumbered fig.

Acicula (Platyla) ? polita (Hartmann) —Subai, P. 1976: 120, fig. 3 [misidentification]

Diagnosis. Shell cylindrical with blunt apex, yellowish horn-brown in colour, with moderately convex whorls. Body whorl occupies (calculated as the Hb /H ratio) less than half of the shell height. Peristome widened. Parietal callus well developed. In side view, the aperture does not rise at the penultimate whorl and apertural edge is almost straight in lateral view. Neck bulge strongly developed, with a clear edge posteriorly.

Type material studied. Holotype (of P. graeca ): Greece, ‘ Epirus: neben der Landstrasse Igoumenitsa - Ioannina, Berghang am Dorf Parapotamos’ ; 23 Jul 1975; P. Subai leg.; SMF 244499 . Paratypes (of P. graeca ): 6 shells; same collection data as for holotype; SMF 244500/1, NMBE 531514/5. 5 shells; Greece, Epirus, 5 km E of Igoumenitsa, hillside between ’ Peštani and Salica’ [=Pestaniotika and Lakka] villages; 22 Jul 1975; P. Subai leg.; SMF 244501/1, NMBE 531515/4 .

Additional material. Albania: Gjirokastër district, Lunxheri Mts., 6 km NE of Suhë to Poliçan , roadside rock; 40.0958° N, 20.297° E; 381 m alt.; 10 Jul 2019; Z. Barina, F. Bego, Z. Fehér, T. Fehér, A. Lindon, M. Mecsnóber, G. Puskás and T. Szederjesi leg.; HNHM 104651 . Albania, Gjirokastër district, Lunxheri Mts., 5 km N of Erind on the road to Çajup Pass , roadside rock; 40.1782° N, 20.1642° E; 924 m alt.; 10 Jul 2019; Z. Barina, F. Bego, Z. Fehér, T. Fehér, A. Lindon, M. Mecsnóber, G. Puskás and T. Szederjesi leg.; HNHM 104652 .

Distribution. This species has a relatively wide range from the Central Alps to Central Italy and to Greece, but known records are unequally distributed; while it is relatively frequent in the southeastern Alps (the type locality of the nominate form, P. gracilis is Tolmin in Slovenia) there are only some scattered records in the Balkans. In the neighbourhood of Albania only some localities are known in Epirus (where Acicula graeca , a junior synonym of this species, was described from), in Lefkas and in Corfu Islands ( Boeters et al. 1989). The newly found Lunxheri Mts. populations are geographically close to the type locality of A. graeca in Epirus ( Fig. 1C ).

Conservation status. Globally it was assessed as Least Concern (LC) because of the relatively large range, numerous known subpopulations and no identified threats ( Neubert et al. 2011). Neither in Albania is there any reason to suppose that the habitat quality, extent of occurrence (EOO), area of occupancy (AOO), number of locations, number of subpopulations or the number of mature individuals are declining or extremely fluctuating. But there are only two known locations in Albania, and therefore, it qualifies for the Near Threatened (D2) category at the national level.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Platyla and Renea species in and around Albania. A. Yellow: P. albanica; yellow star: type locality of P. albanica; red: P. feheri; red triangle pointing up: type locality of P. feheri. B. Black: P. banatica; red: P. pinteri; red triangle pointing up: type locality of P. pinteri; magenta: P. procax; magenta star pointing up: type locality of P. corpulenta; magenta star pointing down: type locality of P. procax. C. White: P. gracilis; white star: type locality of Acicula graeca; magenta: R. kobelti; magenta star pointing up: type locality of R. kobelti; magenta star pointing down: type locality of R. kobelti albanica. D. Red: P. similis; red star pointing up: type locality of Hyalacme beieri; red star pointing down: type locality of Platyla ceraunorum; purple: P. wilhelmi; purple star: type locality of P. wilhelmi.

FIGURE 6. Shells of Platyla species. A–N. Platyla similis (Reinhardt, 1880). A–B. Kudhës, holotype of Platyla ceraunorum (NHMW 111145). C–D. Lefkas, Poros (HNHM 74013). E–F. S of Ilias (HNHM 104634). G–H. Lefkas, Kaligoni, holotype of Hyalacme beieri (NHMW-79000/K-15565). I–J. Lefkas, Kaligoni (NHMW-75000/E-28625). K. Nisista (NHMW-79000/K 6708). L. Platanoussa (NHMW-79000/K 6709). M. Sidironero E 13 km (HNHM 104635). N. Kaçanik (NHMW 44425). O–R. Platyla gracilis (Clessin, 1877). O–P. W of Çajup Pass (HNHM 104652). Q–R. Suhë NE 6 km (HNHM 104651). Scale bar = 1 mm.