Clathrocaspia stanislavi ( Alexenko & Starobogatov, 1987 )

Anistratenko, Vitaliy V., Neubauer, Thomas A., Anistratenko, Olga Yu., Kijashko, Pavel V. & Wesselingh, Frank P., 2021, A revision of the Pontocaspian gastropods of the subfamily Caspiinae (Caenogastropoda: Hydrobiidae), Zootaxa 4933 (2), pp. 151-197 : 184-185

Clathrocaspia stanislavi ( Alexenko & Starobogatov, 1987)

Fig. 18 i–m

Caspia gmelinii stanislavi Alexenko et Starobogatov subsp. n. — Alexenko & Starobogatov 1987: 33, fig. 1.

Caspia stanislavi Alexenko et Starobogatov, 1987 — Kantor & Sysoev 2006: 88, pl. 41, fig. H.

Type material. Holotype and 44 paratypes should be in the ZIN collection; despite major effort, none of the specimens could be located in this institution. One paratype, being a subadult specimen with partially destroyed aperture, was retrieved in the collection of the NMNH NASU (IKOFZ-It-167).

Type locality. Dnieper river near Kherson, Kherson region, Ukraine ( Table 1 , locality 30a). The only retrieved paratype was collected from the Dnieper delta (locality 30d) .

Other material. One specimen from the type locality, collected in 1982 by T.L. Alexenko and determined by her in cooperation with Ya.I. Starobogatov ( UGSB 25237 ). One specimen from the late Holocene deposits of near Kiliya, Odessa region, Ukraine ( IZAN unnumbered, locality 32) .

Remarks. Alexenko & Starobogatov (1987) considered this species similar to the Caspian C. gmelinii , from which it is said to differ only in the more inflated whorls, the weaker sculpture and a slightly smaller shell. In combination with the measurements provided with the original description, C. stanislavi rather resembles the holotype of C. makarovi , which is present considered a synonym of C. knipowitschii . Thus, C. stanislavi is very likely too a synonym of C. knipowitschii , but a final decision requires investigation of the type material, foremost the holotype, and/or a genetic study once fresh material becomes available ( Wesselingh et al. 2019). The species is treated as a taxon inquirendum.

Distribution. Endemic to the Black Sea Basin, known today only from the delta of the Dnieper River in the vicinity of Stanislav village and Dnieper-Bug liman ( Ukraine). One shell was retrieved from late Holocene deposits of the Danube Delta.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Doubtful species. (a, b) Clathrocaspia sp., labelled as “Caspia microcingulifera, holotype”, locality 6 (ZIN, no number). (c–f) Clathrocaspia sp., labelled as “Caspia microcingulifera, paratype”, locality 9 (ZIN, no number). (g, h) Clathrocaspia valkanovi, holotype, locality 28 (ZIN 4367/1). (i) Clathrocaspia stanislavi, reconstruction of the holotype (after Alexenko and Starobogatov 1987), locality 30a. (j, k) Paratype of C. stanislavi, locality 30d (NMNH NASU, IKOFZ-It-167). (l) C. stanislavi, locality 30a (det. T.L. Alexenko; UGSB 25237). (m) C. stanislavi from Holocene deposits, locality 32 (IZAN, no number). Scale bars = 1 mm (a–d, g–m), 100 μm (e, f).