Helix (Helix) pelagonesica thembones Korábek, Juřičková & Hausdorf, 2025
publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1249.143635 |
publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D23EFECF-D08D-4129-B8F4-63518A0BD757 |
DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16896965 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4B4C8C92-A925-5699-BF32-CDACC2C95420 |
treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Helix (Helix) pelagonesica thembones Korábek, Juřičková & Hausdorf |
status |
subsp. nov. |
Helix (Helix) pelagonesica thembones Korábek, Juřičková & Hausdorf subsp. nov.
Figs 11 View Figure 11 , 12 View Figure 12 , 13 View Figure 13
Type material.
Holotype: (Fig. 11 A View Figure 11 ) Greece • diameter 36 mm, height 37 mm; Thessaly, Morfovouni , hill on the NW outskirts of the village; 39.3574°N, 21.7468°E; 15 Apr. 2023; O. Korábek et al. leg.; NMP P 6 M 44038 . The type locality is a northern side of the top of a small hill at the northwestern margin of Morfovouni (Μορφοβούνι; formerly Βουνέσι), Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly (Θεσσαλία) GoogleMaps . Paratypes: Greece • 15 shells, 9 bodies in ethanol; Thessaly, Morfovouni , hill on the NW outskirts of the village; 39.3574°N, 21.7468°E; 15 Apr. 2023; O. Korábek et al. leg.; NMP P 6 M 42943 GoogleMaps • 2 shells; Morfovouni , hill on the NW outskirts of the village; 39.3574°N, 21.7468°E; 15 Apr. 2023; O. Korábek et al. leg.; ZMH 141525 View Materials GoogleMaps • 12 shells; south of Mouzaki, by a road to Porti ; 39.4135°N, 21.6642°E; 15 Apr. 2023; O. Korábek et al. leg.; NMP P 6 M 42942 GoogleMaps • 6 shells; between Morfovouni and Ellinopyrgos , slope above a forest road; 39.3747°N, 21.7318°E; 16 Apr. 2023; O. Korábek et al. leg.; NMP P 6 M 42944 GoogleMaps • 1 shell; rocks northwest of Morfovouni ; 18 Jun. 1985; B. Hausdorf leg.; ZMH 137861 View Materials • 1 shell; Morfovouni , crystallic rocks; 18 May 1995; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524759 View Materials • 3 shells; Morfovouni, northern fringes , limestone rocks; 12 May 1997; P. Subai & M. Szekeres leg.; NMBE 524756 View Materials • 1 complete individual in alcohol; Morfovouni, northern fringes , east-oriented limestone rocks; 39.3567°N, 21.7464°E; 23 Apr. 2003; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524760 View Materials GoogleMaps • 1 shell; Mouzaki, rocks 1.5 km towards Kryonéri ; 19 Jun. 1985; B. Hausdorf leg.; ZMH 137863 View Materials • 1 shell; 800 south of Mouzaki, junction to Porti ; 39.4153°N 21.6659°E; 10 Apr. 1988; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524757 View Materials GoogleMaps • 1 shell; 1.6 km south of Mouzaki, junction to Porti ; 39.4113°N 21.6630°E; 23 Apr. 2003; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524746 View Materials GoogleMaps • 1 shell; Elati, 7.3 km in direction to Pertouli and 2.9 km east on field road , coniferous forest, on limestone rocks; 39.5710°N, 21.5179°E; 23 Jul. 1990; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524754 View Materials GoogleMaps • 1 shell; Elati, 7.3 km in direction to Pertouli and 2.9 km east on field road , coniferous forest, on limestone rocks; 39.5710°N, 21.5179°E; 17 May 1991; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524755 View Materials GoogleMaps • 1 shell; Elati, 7.3 km in direction to Pertouli and 2.9 km east on field road , coniferous forest, on limestone rocks; 39.5710°N, 21.5179°E; 16 May 1995; P. Subai leg.; NMBE 524754 View Materials GoogleMaps .
Diagnosis.
Helix pelagonesica thembones differs from H. p. pelagonesica in the pale brownish shell with inconspicuous bands and paler apertural margins. Helix pelagonesica thembones has globular shells, whereas most populations of H. p. pelagonesica have more conical shells with a relatively smaller aperture.
Description.
Middle-sized globular shell (diameter 32–42 mm, height 33–43 mm) resembling in shape Helix pomatia ; no umbilicus; protoconch large (~ 5–6 mm in diameter at 1 whorl); aperture semicircular; aperture margins and especially columella may be darker than the rest of the shell, with columella often meat-coloured to brown; shell surface relatively smooth, with only fine irregular riblets, pale brownish, sometimes with pinkish hue when alive; bands are inconspicuous, not much darker than the background, but present (2 + 3 and 4, sometimes weakly also 5, positioned close to the shell axis); apertural margins straight, slightly reflected only towards columella; animal pale brown to greyish brown, mantle margins pale.
Genital system (Fig. 13 View Figure 13 ) with proximal epiphallus (sensu Korábek and Hausdorf 2023) much shorter than distal epiphallus and penis combined (4–5 vs 12–15 mm); flagellum well-developed (38–49 mm), mucous gland with many branches and of similar length as or longer than the dart sac; distal pedunculus of bursa copulatrix considerably thicker than the proximal part and leading to a well-developed diverticulum; diverticulum shorter than the proximal pedunculus (12–17 vs 21–32 mm), thick and flattened, narrowing towards tip (heavily swollen in the individual with a spermatophore in the pedunculus); distal genitalia (penis, epiphallus, vagina, the distal-most pedunculus) white.
Etymology.
Named after the opening track of the Alice in Chains’ 1992 album “ Dirt ” as a little reminder to all in power that they are also “ gonna end up a big ol’ pile of them bones ”. Noun in apposition.
Distribution.
The species was found on the band of hills that directly adjoin the Plain of Thessaly from the west (Fig. 14 View Figure 14 ). The southern-most known locality is Morfovouni, the northernmost is ca 7 km north of Elati, so the known range extent is only slightly more than 30 km.
Ecology.
At the type locality, the greatest concentration of individuals was in an area overgrown by Phlomis fruticosa L. (Fig. 15 View Figure 15 ). The same plant dominated vegetation in a small clearing in an oak forest northwest of Morfovouni, where we also found the species. The biology of the subspecies has not been studied. A spermatophore found in the bursa pedunculus of one of the dissected individuals indicates that mating takes place (at least partially) in April.
Remarks.
The majority of the Helix pelagonesica populations differ in a conical shell shape from the plesiomorphic more globular shell shape in Helix . This conical shell shape characterises not only the populations in the contiguous main range of the species in Greek Macedonia and North Macedonia, for which the name Helix pelagonesica vardarica Knipper, 1939 has been proposed, but also isolates of the species in Thessalia, for which the name Helix volensis Kobelt, 1906 was proposed, and the population from the island Kyra Panagia (= Pelagonisi) in the Northern Sporades, for which the species name was originally proposed. The populations with conical shell shape are monophyletic in the mitochondrial tree (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). They are hardly differentiated. Therefore, the names given to these populations were synonymised ( Neubert 2014). In contrast, there are populations from the surroundings of Morfovouni in western Thessaly and from the tip of Sithonia, the middle “ finger ” of the Chalkidiki peninsula in Macedonia, which differ from other populations of Helix pelagonesica so strongly in a globular shell shape that Neubert (2014) misidentified them as H. schlaeflii . It turned out that these globular populations are not related to H. schlaeflii (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ) but are the next relatives of H. pelagonesica . They were obviously isolated from the main lineage of H. p. pelagonesica before its shell became conical. However, the globular populations had different fates. There is probably no gene flow between the populations in the isolate in western Thessaly and those in the main range of the species because of the large geographic distance. This is supported by the distinctive pale shell of these populations (compare Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 to Figs 11 View Figure 11 , 12 View Figure 12 ). Therefore, we suggest separating the populations from western Thessaly as a distinct subspecies Helix pelagonesica thembones from the other populations of Helix pelagonesica .
In contrast, the population from the tip of Sithonia came probably in secondary contact with the conical populations when they colonised the rest of Sithonia. We suppose that the globular population from the tip of Sithonia is connected by gene flow with the neighbouring H. pelagonesica populations, which are only about a kilometre apart, and that the differentiated populations are in the process of merging. Therefore, we currently classify this population as H. p. pelagonesica despite the still recognisable difference in shell shape and the deep split between the mitochondrial lineages of these populations (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). The relationships between the H. pelagonesica populations should be re-examined by multi-locus markers. If it would turn out that gene flow between the globular population from the tip of Sithonia and the neighbouring populations remained restricted despite their proximity and that their genetic differentiation based on the multi-locus data reflects still the deep split between their mitochondrial lineages, it should be re-considered to classify also the population from the tip of Sithonia as a distinct subspecies.
We did not find any noteworthy differences between the genital system of H. pelagonesica thembones , typical H. pelagonesica and the form from the tip of Sithonia. The latter might have a somewhat shorter flagellum (35–37 mm, n = 2) compared to H. pelagonesica thembones (38–49 mm, n = 5), but both overlap with the typical H. pelagonesica (35–45 mm, n = 3).
Helix pelagonesica thembones is usually smaller than H. schlaeflii and has a smoother shell surface without the irregular whitish patterns typical for the latter. It differs from individuals of H. borealis with reduced banding in much paler colouration of the aperture margins and a much larger protoconch. Furthermore, the mucous glands in H. borealis are shorter, reaching only to the half of the dart sac, and diverticulum of bursa copulatrix may be much shorter in some individuals. Compared to H. philibinensis , which is usually distinctly banded, H. pelagonesica thembones has a higher aperture.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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Helicinae |
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Helicini |
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SubGenus |
Helix |