Home

The genus Mercuria Boeters, 1971 in France (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Hydrobiidae). West-European Hydrobiidae, Part 13

Hans D. BOETERS & Gerhard FALKNER

en Zoosystema 39 (2) - Pages 227-261

Published on 30 June 2017

The Mercuria Boeters, 1971 species living in the coastal zones of France are reviewed. In the Atlantic zone the genus Mercuria comprises four species: M. anatina (Poiret, 1801), M. baudoniana (Gassies, 1859), M. bayonnensis (Locard, 1894) and M. sarahae (Paladilhe, 1869); in the Mediterranean zone we discriminate three species: M. meridionalis (Risso, 1826), M. similis (Draparnaud, 1805), and M. corsensis n. sp. Mercuria sarahae is represented by two subspecies, M. s. sarahae and M. s. vindilica (Paladilhe, 1870). Mercuria corsensis n. sp., a close sister species to the Sardinian M. zopissa (Paulucci, 1882) lives only in the extreme South of Corsica. Amnicola emiliana Paladilhe, 1869, does not belong to the genus Mercuria but must be attributed to Pseudamnicola Paulucci, 1878. Lectotypes for Bythinia [sic] bayonnensis Locard, 1894, Bythinia [sic] baudoniana Gassies, 1859, Amnicola lanceolata Paladilhe, 1869, Amnicola sarahae Paladilhe, 1869, Amnicola vindilica Paladilhe, 1870 and Bithynia meridionalis Risso, 1826 are designated. For Amnicola emiliana a neotype is designated. In addition the systematic position of the genus Mercuria is discussed which results in the introduction of a new monotypic subfamily, Mercuriinae n. subfam. The new Corsican species M. corsensis n. sp. is with an average heigth of 3.10 mm and a diameter of 2.20 mm slightly larger and more inflated than M. ­zopissa, which is reflected by a ratio of height of aperture to total height of c. 52% instead of 42-44%. In M. corsensis n. sp. the last whorl before the aperture does neither descend nor ascend, while it clearly descends in M. zopissa. Further, the identity of the following nominal taxa is discussed: Bithinia [sic] moutonii Dupuy, 1849, Amnicola spirata Paladilhe, 1869, Paludestrina brevispira Paladilhe, 1870, Paludina cerulea Massot, 1872 and Amnicola lutetiana Locard, 1893. Finally, ecological preferences and the endangerment of the species mentioned for France are discussed.


Keywords:

Mollusca, Mercuriinae, Atlantic coastal area, Mediterranean coastal area, lectotypification, neotypification, new combination, new subfamily, new species.

Download full article in PDF format Order a reprint