Arch. Biol. Sci., Belgrade, 66 (2), 461-464, 2014 DOI:10.2298/ABS1402461G

BELGRANDIELLA BOZIDARCURCICI N. SP., A NEW SPECIES FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (: )

P. GLÖER1 and V. PEŠIĆ2

1 Biodiversity Research Laboratory, 25491 Hetlingen, Germany 2 Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro

Abstract - A new hydrobiid snail, Belgrandiella bozidarcurcici n. sp., is described from the rheocrene and rheopsammocre- ne springs situated in the canyon of the Cvrcka River, a region of Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The concept of the Belgrandiella seems to be extremely artificial, but for the time being we keep the new species as a member of the genus based mainly on the shape of the shell of its type species, B. kusceri (Wagner, 1914).

Key words: Gastropoda, new species, Belgrandiella, , Balkans.

INTRODUCTION two species of the genus Belgrandiella, B. koprivnen- sis Radoman, 1975 and B. dabriana Radoman, 1975, Species of the hydrobiid genus Belgrandiella are dis- have previously been described from Bosnia and tributed from Austria (Glöer, 2002) to Bulgaria (Ra- Herzegovina (Radoman, 1983). doman, 1983; Georgiev, 2011). Records of species of this genus from Turkey, Ukraine, Caucasus and Fieldwork by Dejan Dmitrović (Banjaluka) in Lebanon (Schütt and Şeşen, 1993) are questionable the region of the Cvrcka River canyon resulted in the and need further confirmation. Many species origi- discovery of one species new to science that will be nally described in the genus Belgrandiella have later presented in this paper. on been shifted to other genera (e.g., Boeters, 1999). MATERIALS AND METHODS Most of species of the genus have a restricted dis- tribution as dwellers of springs and subterranean wa- The benthic assemblages were studied from 50 ters. Haase (1994) showed an unusual lack of variabil- spring habitats situated in the 17-km long canyon of ity within each population of Austrian Belgrandiella. the Cvrcka River, region of Banja Luka, Republic of This was explained as a consequence of the presumed Srpska (Fig. 2B). The samples were collected using a mode of dispersal of these crenobiontic snails, i.e. Surber sampler; freshwater snails were sorted in the aerial transport with insects (Haase, 1994). laboratory with the aid of a stereo microscope and fixed in 70% ethanol. The distribution of the genus Belgrandiella in the Balkans shows a large gap between Bosnia and Unless otherwise stated, the material was collect- Herzegovina and Bulgaria (Fig. 1A). To date, only ed by Dejan Dmitrović (Banjaluka). Dissections and

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Fig. 1 A. Distribution of genus Belgrandiella (red dot: sampling site of B. bozidarcurcici n. sp.). B. Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina with marked (red dots) sampling sites of B. bozidarcurcici n. sp. C. Photo of Vilensko Vrelo spring, canyon of the Cvrcka River, Republic of Srpska, sampling site of B. bozidarcurcici n. sp. Photo V. Pešić

measurements of the genital organs and the shells Belgrandiella bozidarcurcici n. sp. were carried out using a stereo microscope, and (Fig. 2) photographs were made with a Leica digital camera system. The type material is stored in the Zoological Material examined - Holotype (ZMH): Shell height Museum of Hamburg (ZMH). 1.65 mm, width 1.0 mm. Paratypes: 87 ex. (ZMH XXX, rest in coll. Glöer) from the following sampling RESULTS sites: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska, Banjaluka, canyon of the Cvrcka River: 8 ex., Vilen- Systematics sko vrelo spring, 44°33.003’ N, 17°23.580’ E, 456 m a.s.l., 02.ix.2012 leg. Pešić; 18 ex., rheocrene spring, Family Hydrobiidae Troschel, 1857 44°33.216’ N, 17°24.100’ E, 372 m asl., 11.ix.2012; 13 ex., rheocrene spring, 44°33.156’ N, 17°23.872’ E, 403 Genus Belgrandiella A.J. Wagner, 1928 m asl., 11.ix.2012; 10 ex., rheopsammocrene spring, BELGRANDIELLA BOZIDARCURCICI N. SP., A NEW SPECIES FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 463

Fig. 2. Belgrandiella bozidarcurcici n. sp. (1-3: paratypes; 4: holotype).

44°32.547’ N, 17°23.277’ E, 487 m asl., 17.ix.2012; specimens with a blunt angle at the top and a thick- 14 ex., rheopsammocrene spring, 44°32.548’N, ened peristome. The umbilicus is closed. The opercu- 17°23.292’ E, 487 m asl., 17.ix.2012; 4 ex., rheopsam- lum is orange. Shell height 1.65-2.10 mm (1.725, σ = mocrene spring, 44°32.654’ N, 17°23.334’ E, 486 m ± 0.26), shell width = 0.9-1.2 mm. asl., 17.ix.2012; 4 ex., rheocrene spring, 44°32.018’ N, 17°23.015’ E, 588 m asl., 19.ix.2012; 14 ex., rheop- The mantle is dark with a white border at the sammocrene spring, 44°33.135’ N, 17°24.160’ E, 431 head. The head and foot are white, the head with m asl., 23.ix.2012; 1 ex., captured spring, 44°33.131’ dark patterns at the forehead. Dark eyespots are vis- N, 17°24.000’E, 382 m asl., 23.ix.2012; 1 ex., rhe- ible. The penis is long and slim, acute at the tip, and opsammocrene spring, 44°33.490’ N, 17°24.654’ without outgrowths. E, 394 m asl., 23.ix.2012; 7 ex., rheocrene spring, 44°31.648’N, 17°21.955’E, 604 m asl., 06.x.2012; 1 Differential diagnosis - The new species most closely ex., captured spring, 44°30.619’ N, 17°18.696’ E, 808 resembles Belgrandiella kuesteri (Boeters, 1970). The m asl., 20.ix.2013; 10 ex., rheopsammocrene spring, latter species differs in having a more elongated shell 44°32.547’ N, 17°23.277’E, 487 m asl., 17.ix.2012. and narrower egg-shaped aperture, which is rounded at the top. In addition, it has a strongly sinuated mar- Type locality - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of gin of the aperture. Srpska, Banjaluka, canyon of the Cvrcka River, rheo- crene spring, 44°33.156’ N, 17°23.872’ E, 403 m a.s.l., Belgrandiella koprivnensis Radoman, 1975, 11.ix.2012. known from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, can be distinguished from B. bozidarcurcici n. sp. by Etymology - Named after Professor Božidar Ćurčić proportionally shorter shells, rather thin aperture (Faculty of Biology, Serbia) in appreciation of his margins with the columellar one being applied to the studies of Balkan fauna. shell wall, often reduced to a callus (Radoman, 1983). B. dabriana Radoman, 1975, known only from the Description – The elongated-oval shell is thick- spring of the Dabar River (S of Sanski Most) differs walled and consists of 4-4.5 convex whorls with a from the new species in having a slit-like umbili- small rounded apex and smooth surface. The shell is cus and a rather low and wide aperture (Radoman, whitish translucent. The aperture is oval and in most 1983) 464 P. GLÖER ET AL.

Distribution - Bosnia and Herzegovina, canyon of the that the genus Belgrandiella is polymorphic or a com- Cvrcka River. plex of sibling genera with possibly limited distribu- tions. However, resolving this problem is not possible Habitat and ecology - In the study area, this species without the application of molecular techniques. was found to be common in rheocrene and rheop- sammocrene springs in deciduous forests dominated Acknowledgments - We would like to express our thanks to by common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.); only a few Dejan Dmitrović for the materials he collected in the region specimens were taken from the springs. The species of Banjaluka. was collected within an altitudinal range of 372 to 808 m, and possibly its vertical distribution ranges REFERENCES from the uppermost edge of the oak belt, and com- prises the beech belt up to its higher parts. In some Boeters, H. D. (1998). : Gastropoda: Rissooidea. Süß- wasserfauna von Mitteleuropa, 5 (1-2). Gustav Fischer, springs, Belgrandiella bozidarcurcici n. sp. lives to- 1-76. gether with Bythinella schmidtii, Radix labiata and Galba truncatula. Boeters, H. D. (1999). Alzoniella navarrensis n. sp., Pseudamni- cola (Corrosella) hydrobiopsis n. sp. and the type species of Pseudamnicola Paulucci, 1878. Unknown West European DISCUSSION Prosobranchia, 12. Basteria 63 (1-3), 77-81. Glöer P. (2002). Die Süßwassergastropoden Mitteleuropas. Die Species of the genus Belgrandiella are characterized Tierwelt Deutschlands, 73. Conchbooks, Hackenheim, by an oval to elongated-oval shell with a pointed 1-327. apex, whorls rapidly increasing with a prominent Glöer, P. and D. Georgiev (2009). New Rissooidea from Bulgaria body whorl and a nearly horizontal suture. The ap- (Gastropoda: Rissooidea). Mollusca 27 (2), 123-137. erture is oval and angled at the top, at the columella lip-like thickened (Boeters, 1998). Belgrandiella is Georgiev, D. (2011). Check list of the Bulgarian minor freshwater snails (Gastropoda: Rissooidea) with some ecological and widely distributed from Austria to the Caucasus and zoogeographical notes. ZooNotes, 24, 1-4. Lebanon (Schütt and Şeşen, 1993). However, with- out question this concept of the genus Belgrandiella Haase, M. (1996). The radiation of spring snails of the genusBel - grandiella in Austria. Hydrobiologia 319, 119-129. seems to be extremely artificial. The type species Belgrandiella kusceri (Wagner, 1928) has a strongly Haase, M. (1994). Differentiation of selected species of Bel- sinuated margin of the aperture and the penis has a grandiella and the redefined genusGraziana (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, “characteristic backward-turned, hook-shaped out- 111, 219-246. growth” (Radoman, 1983). Other Belgrandiella spe- cies, e.g. the Austrian species, have a broad triangular Radoman, P. (1983). Hydrobioidea a superfamily of Prosobran- chia (Gastropoda) I. Systematics. Monographs 547, Ser- penis (Haase, 1994, 1996) and those from Bulgaria bian Academy of Sciences and Arts [Department of Sci- have a simple penis without any outgrowth, blunt at ences] 57, 1-256. the penis tip (Glöer and Georgiev, 2009). Schütt and Schütt H. and R. Şeşen (1993). Pseudamnicola species and other Şeşen (1993) did not provide anatomical data for the freshwater gastropods (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from East species from Turkey, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Leb- Anatolia (Turkey), the Ukraine and the Lebanon. Basteria anon assigned to the genus Belgrandiella. It is likely 57, 161–171.