Revision of the subterranean genus Spelaeodiscus Brusina, 1886 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Spelaeodiscidae)

Abstract

The Balkan genus Spelaeodiscus Brusina, 1886 is revised based on museum collections and newly collected samples from Montenegro and Albania. The following species and subspecies are introduced as new to science: Spelaeodiscus albanicus edentatus Páll-Gergely & P. L. Reischütz, ssp. n. (southern Montenegro and northern Albania), Spelaeodiscus densecostatus Páll-Gergely & A. Reischütz, sp. n., Spelaeodiscus hunyadii Páll-Gergely & Deli, sp. n., Spelaeodiscus latecostatus Páll-Gergely & Erőss, sp. n. (all three from southern Montenegro), Spelaeodiscus unidentatus acutus Páll-Gergely & Fehér, ssp. n., and Spelaeodiscus virpazarioides Páll-Gergely & Fehér, sp. n. (both from northern Albania). For all species and subspecies diagnoses and suggestions for conservation status assessments according to IUCN criteria are provided. An overview is given regarding the habitat preference of Spelaeodiscus species, and the “scratch and flotate” method to collect subterranean gastropods.

The world’s tiniest land snails from Laos and Vietnam (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Hypselostomatidae)

“…Material collection followed that of Tweedie (1961) (see also methods in Páll-Gergely et al, 2018). Soil was gathered at the base of limestone rocks and inside caves, and placed in a bucket of water, the floating scum containing plant debris and shells was removed and dried, and the shells were later sorted under a stereo microscope.…”

Taxonomic revision of the subterranean genus Virpazaria Gittenberger, 1969 (Gastropoda, Spelaeodiscidae)

“…ImageJ 1.49 scientific image analyzing software (Schneider et al 2012) was used for measurements. We measured shell height, shell width, aperture height and aperture width (see Páll-Gergely et al 2018: fig. 1), and counted the number of ribs on the last whorl, as well as the number of whorls (± 0.25) according to Kerney & Cameron (1979: 13).…”

“…Extensive field surveys applying the ʻscratch & flotate' sampling method (Páll-Gergely et al 2018) significantly increased the number of known populations and the amount of available material of subterranean gastropods in the past decade. In this paper we revise the genus Virpazaria, describe new taxa, present new distribution records and try to draw taxonomy-related conclusions.…”