Zospeum zaldivarae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Ellobiida
Superfamily: Ellobioidea
Family: Ellobiidae
Subfamily: Carychiinae
Genus: Zospeum
Species:
Z. zaldivarae
Binomial name
Zospeum zaldivarae
Prieto, De Winter, Weigand, Gomez & Jochum, 2015

Zospeum zaldivarae is a cave-dwelling species of air-breathing land snail.

Description

This species has an average shell height of ca. 1.5 mm and an average shell width of ca. 1.2 mm. It is larger, wider and less elongated compared to other Zospeum species. The shell is transparent, when fresh, and chalky white with age. It has a turbinate-conical shape with approximately 5 1/2 regularly coiled, convex, rounded whorls. The last whorl is large, tumid and encompasses ca. 2/3 of the shell height. The opening (aperture) of the shell is crescent-shaped. Zospesum zaldivarae seems to be polymorphic regarding the presence/absence of the apertural barriers. Some individuals show an apertural dentition, some not.[1][2] The apertural dentition (if any) consists of a small, short lamella on the parietal wall and a tooth on the parietal-columellar corner of the peristome. The columellar and palatal-basal lip are narrowly reflected. The umbilicus is closed, and the umbilical depression is deep. The teleoconch possess irregular axial striae or blunt growth lines, which are often crossed by a spiral element. In a small area immediately behind the palatal-basal lip some axial ribbing were observed. The peristome is higher than wide, taking up about half of the shell height. It is closely adhering to the spire and has an angular shape with a straight palatal-columellar callus.[2]

Discovery

Zospeum zaldivarae was discovered in the Cueva de Las Paúles in the Sierra Salvada in the Province of Burgos in Northern Spain by the biologist and speleologist Pilar Zaldívar in the 1980s.

Taxonomy

Zospeum zaldivarae is named after Pilar Zaldívar, who is part of the Niphargus Speleoloical Team and discovered the species.

Distribution

This species is only known from the type locality, Cueva de Las Paúles in the Sierra Salvada in the Province Burgos in Northern Spain.[3][2]

Ecology

Zospeum zaldivarae was identified on moist, muddy walls in a karst cave at an altitude of ca. 840 m. They were found embedded in a muddy sediment matrix, interspersed with a yellow- and white-coloured fungal aggregation.[2]

Conservation

Currently, Zospeum zaldivarae is known to inhabit only one locality. This locality is relatively easily accessible to the public and thereby threatened. Due to the limitation of the species to one locality and according to the Guidelines of the IUCN Red List, it is a vulnerable, narrow range endemic.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Weigand, A. (2013). New Zospeum species (Gastropoda, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae) from 980 m depth in the Lukina Jama–Trojama cave system (Velebit Mts., Croatia). Subterranean Biology, 11, 45.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jochum, A., De Winter, A. J., Weigand, A. M., Gómez, B., & Prieto, C. (2015). Two new species of Zospeum Bourguignat, 1856 from the Basque-Cantabrian Mountains, Northern Spain (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae). ZooKeys, (483), 81.
  3. ↑ Jochum A, Weigand AM, Slapnik R, Valentinčič J, Prieto CE (2012) The microscopic ellobioid, Zospeum Bourguignat, 1856 (Pulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae) makes a big debut in Basque Country and the province of Burgos (Spain). MalaCo 8: 400−403.
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