Neomys fodiens (Pennant 1771)

[Sorex] fodiens Pennant 1771, Synopsis Quadrupeds: 308.

Type Locality: Germany, Berlin.

Vernacular Names: Eurasian Water Shrew.

Synonyms: Neomys albiventris (de Sélys Longchamps 1839); Neomys albus (Bechstein 1800); Neomys alpestris Burg 1924; Neomys aquaticus (Müller 1776); Neomys argenteus Ognev 1922; Neomys bicolor (Shaw 1791); Neomys brachyotus Ognev 1922; Neomys canicularius (Bechstein 1800); Neomys carinatus (Hermann 1780); Neomys ciliatus (Sowerby 1805); Neomys collaris (Desmarest 1818); Neomys dagestanicus Heptner and Formozov 1928; Neomys daubentonii (Erxleben 1777); Neomys eremita (Meyer 1793); Neomys fimbriatus (Fitzinger 1868); Neomys fluviatilis (Bechstein 1793); Neomys griseogularis (Fitzinger 1868); Neomys hermanni (Duvernoy 1835); Neomys hydrophilus (Pallas 1811); Neomys ignotus Fatio 1905; Neomys intermedius (Cornalia 1870); Neomys intermedius Brunner 1952; Neomys leucotis (de Sélys Longchamps 1839); Neomys limchunhunii Won 1954; Neomys lineatus (E. Geoffroy 1811); Neomys linneana (Gray 1838); Neomys liricaudatus (Kerr 1792); Neomys longobarda (Sordelli 1899); Neomys macrourus (Lehmann 1822); Neomys minor Miller 1901; Neomys musculus (Wagler 1832); Neomys naias Barrett-Hamilton 1905; Neomys nanus Lydekker 1906; Neomys natans (Brehm 1826); Neomys niethammeri Bühler 1963; Neomys nigricans (Nilsson 1845); Neomys nigripes (Melchior 1834); Neomys orientalis Hinton 1915; Neomys orientis Thomas 1914; Neomys pennantii (Gray 1838); Neomys psilurus (Wagler 1832); Neomys remifer (E. Geoffroy 1811); Neomys rivalis (Brehm 1830); Neomys sowerbyi (Bonaparte 1840); Neomys stagnatilis (Brehm 1826); Neomys stresemanni Stein 1931; Neomys watasei Kishida 1930; Neomys watasei Kuroda 1941 .

Distribution: Most of Europe including the British Isls and eastwards to Lake Baikal, Yenisei River (Russia), Tien Shan (China), and NW Mongolia; disjunct in Sakhalin Isl and adjacent Siberia, Jilin (China), and N Korea.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Includes orientis and watasei as possible subspecies (Hoffmann, 1987; Ognev, 1928; Yudin, 1989). Many of the listed synonyms have never been properly studied and identified and a meaningful subspecific division of the species is not possible yet. Recently, Lehmann (1983) referred constrictus to Crocidura russula . The form niethammeri from NE Spain may represent a valid species (Bühler, 1996; López-Fuster et al., 1990). Neomys newtoni Hinton, 1911 is regarded as an extinct Pleistocene species; see Rzebik-Kowalska (1998). Neomys intermedius Brunner, 1952 was identified as a chronosubspecies of N. fodiens by Schaefer (1973); the name, however, is not available. Karyotypes of N. fodiens from Sweden to Mongolia were consistantly 2n = 52, FN = 98 (Zima et al., 1998).