Helix godetiana KOBELT, 1878

Neubert, Eike, 2014, Revision of Helix LINNAEUS, 1758 in its eastern Mediterranean distribution area, and reassignment of Helix godetiana KOBELT, 1878 to Maltzanella HESSE, 1917 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae), Contributions to Natural History 26, pp. 1-200 : 177

Note on Helix godetiana KOBELT, 1878

Since its description, this enigmatic species from the Central Aegean has been assigned to the genus Helix . A reassessment of the shell characters showed that this species has an extraordinarily large and dome-shaped protoconch, which is not seen in any species of Helix as defined here in this revision, but typical for Maltzanella HESSE, 1917. The other two species currently affiliated with Maltzanella , Maltzanella maltzani (KOBELT, 1883) and Maltzanella dickhauti ( KOBELT, 1903) are small-range endemics living in the western part of Turkey ( Schütt 1976).

Quite recently, Psonis & al. (2014) showed in their analysis of dark-mouthed Helix species from Greece that this species branches off in a basal position opposite to all Helix species. In their recent molecular analysis of the genus Helix and related genera, Korábek & al. (submitted) found the genus Maltzanella to be close but clearly separated from Helix . For these reasons, Helix godetiana KOBELT, 1878 is excluded from Helix , and affiliated to Maltzanella .