Turricaspia basalis

Wesselingh, Frank, Poorten, Jan Johan ter, Kijashko, Pavel, Albrecht, Christian, Anistratenko, Olga Yu, Frolov, Pavel, Gándara, Alberto Martinez, Gittenberger, Arjan, Gogaladze, Aleksandre, Mikhail Karpinsky, Popa, Luis, Sands, Arthur F, Vandendorpe, Justine & Wilke, Thomas, 2019, Mollusc species from the Pontocaspian region - an expert opinion list, ZooKeys 827, pp. 31-124 : 81-82

? Turricaspia basalis (Dybowski & Grochmalicki, 1915)

*1915 Micromelania dimidiata var. basalis Dybowski & Grochmalicki: 131, pl. 3, fig. 36a, b.

1969 Pyrgula (Trachycaspia) laticarinata Logvinenko and Starobogatov: 359, fig. 359(3).

2006 Pyrgula basalis basalis (B. Dybowski & J. Grochmalicki, 1915). - Kantor and Sysoev: 97, pl. 46, fig. A.

2006 Pyrgula basalis laticarinata Logvinenko & Starobogatov, 1968. - Kantor and Sysoev: 97, pl. 46, fig. B.

2016 Pyrgula basalis basalis (B. Dybowski & Grochmalicki, 1915). - Vinarski and Kantor: 236.

2016 Pyrgula basalis laticarinata Logvinenko & Starobogatov, 1968. - Vinarski and Kantor: 236.

Status. Pontocaspian species, identity uncertain.

Type locality. Caspian Sea (no details).

Distribution. Middle and southern Caspian Sea ( Logvinenko and Starobogatov 1969). This species was mentioned from depths between 200 and 400 m in the South Caspian Basin of Azerbaijan ( Mirzoev and Alekperov 2017, who reported the species as T. laticarinata ).

Taxonomic notes. The species is characterised by a massive keel near the lower suture.? Turricaspia dimidiata is distinguished based on its more centrally placed keel. This distinction is tentative and only based on comparison of available illustrations; we are aware of the possibility that these differences might not be diagnostic. Moreover, the keel seems to become stronger with increasing water depth ( Starobogatov 1968). Pyrgula laticarinata Logvinenko & Starobogatov, 1969, which differs from T. basalis only in the strength of the keels, was considered a junior synonym by Neubauer et al. (2018).

Conservation status. Not assessed.