Berkanella selouensis, Taybi & Glöer & Mabrouki, 2024

Taybi, A. F., Glöer, P. & Mabrouki, Y., 2024, Description of Berkanella selouensis gen. et sp. n., a new subterranean snail from Morocco and redescription of Islamia tifertiensis Glöer, Mabrouki et Taybi, 2020 (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae), Invertebrate Zoology 21 (2), pp. 147-156 : 152-154

Berkanella selouensis sp.n.

Figs 5–6.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Holotype. Ethanol-fixed specimen ( Fig. 5A, B, D), shell is 1.42 mm high and 1.31 mm wide, deposited in the collection of the Zoological Museum Hamburg ( ZMH 141508 ). Paratypes. Two paratypes deposited in the collection of the Zoological Museum Hamburg ( ZMH 141509 ), ethanol-fixed ( Figs. 5C, 6). In addition, 10 ethanol-fixed specimens are kept in the personal collections of Mabrouki and Taybi .

TYPELOCALITY. AwelllocatedinsidetheMultidisciplinary Faculty of Nador , Selouan, Nador province, the oriental region of Morocco (35°03′56.2″N 2°54′42.4″W) belongstothewatershedoftheMarchica lagoon, the latter classified as SBEI (Site of Biologi- cal and Ecological Interest) and a Ramsar site. The groundwater of the region belongs to the aquifer of Garet. Collected on 20 March, 2023 .

DESCRIPTION:

CONCHOLOGICAL FEATURES. The translucent, glossy and colourless shell has 3 fast-growing glossy whorls with a smooth surface,nearly planispiral and thin-walled. Shell growth lines are hardly visible ( Fig. 5A–D). The small spire is slightly raised up; the body whorl is prominent. The aperture is prosocline and rounded, the peristome is not sinuated at the bottom from umbilical view. The umbilicus wide, with the earlier whorls visible inside. The shell is 0.63 mm high and 1.35 mm broad. Shell measurements are presented in Table 2.

OPERCULUM.The very thin corneous operculum is pale yellow.

SOFT PARTS. The species is eyeless and colourless ( Fig. 6), cephalic tentacles very long and thin (no pallial tentacle); the penis has a large knob at the left side near the basis and the distal part is tapered ( Fig. 5E).

DIFFERENTIATING CHARACTERS.The new species differs from Berkanella tifertiensis ( Glöer et al., 2020) comb.n. by a lower shell, almost planispiral, the smooth shell surface, the non-sinuated peristome and the rounded aperture. In addition, the penis in Berkanella selouensis sp.n. is larger, widened at the basis and tapered at the distal end with a long pointed penis tip, and the knob is larger too.

DERIVATIO NOMINIS. The specific epithet refers to the city of Selouane, where the new species was found. It is located in the northeast, in the province of Nador, in the eastern Rif and the oriental region of Morocco.

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE. This new species is known only from the type locality and groundwater from a well located in north-eastern Morocco ( Fig. 1). The Garet-Bouareg aquifer consists of a free aquifer, which extends continuously and generally under the two plains of Garet and Bouareg. This aquifer extends over an area of 570 km 2 ( ADS, 2005). The overall quality of waters in this aquifer is poor due to the high mineralization of the waters (high salinity) and the high levels of nitrates. This is due to the geological nature of the formations from this aquifer and intensive agricultural use .

NOMENCLATURAL ACTS: This work and the nomenclatural acts it contains have been registered in ZooBank. The ZooBank Life Science Identifiers (LSID) for this publication are:

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E4690E62-79DE-4F94-9DF6-17E28787A558

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3FA0FF29-3C01-495E-9009-11B761D8B2B7