Travunijana vruljakensis, Grego & Glöer, 2019

Grego, Jozef & Glöer, Peter, 2019, A New hydrobiid (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Hydrobiidae) genus of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Ecologica Montenegrina 21, pp. 86-89 : 87-88

Travunijana vruljakensis n. sp.

( Figs. 2-6 )

Type locality: Bosnia and Hercegovina , Trebinje municipality, Gorica , Vrelo Studenac spring at right bank of Trebišnjica River, at an outlet of small trout farm in Motel Studenac, 42.712001°N, 18.372980°E ( Fig. 1 ) .

Type material:

Holotype: Type locality, 31.03.2018, Jozef Grego leg., HNHM-Moll 104416.

Paratypes: same data, coll. Grego 35 wet and 14 dry specimens, coll. Gloer 5 wet, 3 dry specimens; Type locality. 24.04.2019, Jozef Grego leg., HNHM-Moll 10419 10 dry specimens, NHMW 111640 10 dry specimens, coll. Grego 330 dry and 11 wet specimens; Bosnia and Hercegovina , Trebinje municipality, Gorica , Vruljak 1 spring at right bank of Trebijšnica River 450 m downstream of Vrelo Studenac, 24.04.2019 Jozef Grego leg. , 10 wet, 14 dry specimens in coll. J. Grego.

Description: Shell: The conical shell is brownish with a blunt apex. The 5-5.5 whorls are slightly convex with a deep suture and with very weak axial growth lines. The body whorl is higher than the spire and somewhat ventricose and slimmer at the base. The aperture is tear shaped ovate, slightly angled at the top. The peristome is sharp, thickened to reflexed at the columellar margin. The umbilicus is slit-like to close. The new taxon displays a sexual dimorphism on the shell morphology where the male shells have more slender shell shape ( Figs. 2-4 ): the shell is 2.7-2.9 mm high and 1.5 mm broad in males, and 1.7 mm in females.

Animal: The animal is whitish with small eyes.

Anatomy: The penis has a small typical outgrowth at the left side, near the blunt penis tip.

Differentiating characters: The new genus and species can be distinguished from all other hydrobiid taxa from the Balkans ( Radoman 1983) known to have outgrowth on the penis, by the position of the outgrowth near to the penis tip.

Etymology: The species is named by the close cave Vruljak 1, which supply the phreatic waters to the Vruljak 1 and Sudenac springs.

Distribition: Known only from the type locality and from the spring Vruljak 1 situated 450 m downstream from the type locality.

Habitat: Live specimens and empty shells were found at sandy bottom of the water outlet from a small trout farm. The habitat is small and vulnerable, however the population inside the trout farm is well protected. The new taxon is considered as a crenobiont species.

Figures

Figure 1. Map of the Travunijana vruljakensis n. gen n. sp. type localty (red dot).

Figures 2-6. Travunijana vruljakensis n. gen. n. sp.; 2.- holotype HNHM Moll 100 174; 3-5. - paratypes coll. JG; 6. - penis.