Pomatias elegans (O. F. Mueller , 1774)

Plazzi, Federico & Pedroni, Guido, 2023, Biodiversity of extant snails (Gastropoda, Mollusca) in the Pliocene Mountain Spur Natural Reserve (Northern Apennine, Italy), Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 95688-95688 : 95688

Pomatias elegans (O. F. Mueller, 1774)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: several specimens; occurrenceID: CE507DD9-F489-53F7-9B21-83C963A6A4C9; Location : country: Italy; locality: Fosso (Rio) Raibano (3), PMS, Setta Valley ; verbatimElevation: 331 m; Identification : identifiedBy: Pedroni; Event: eventDate: 12.IX. 2020 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: several specimens; occurrenceID: A4C6A5BC-1688-5E46-97DB-C326924CF0C0; Location : country: Italy; locality: Monte Mario (1), PMS, Setta Valley ; verbatimElevation: 231 m; Identification : identifiedBy: Pedroni; Event: eventDate: 31.VIII. 2020 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: 3; occurrenceID: EF7C25FA-BA6A-59F7-A04D-EE9C2C9B2701; Location : country: Italy; locality: Monte Mario slopes (2), PMS, Setta valley ; verbatimElevation: 241 m; Identification : identifiedBy: Pedroni; Event: eventDate: 17.VIII. 2021 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: several specimens; occurrenceID: 39C40D1D-FCFB-58A7-9E72-B327D7F07050; Location : country: Italy; locality: Road to Monte Adone (below Campiuno) (6), PMS, Setta Valley ; verbatimElevation: 374 m; Identification: identifiedBy: Della Bella & Scarponi; Event: eventDate: 30.VIII. 2020 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: 8 + several juveniles; occurrenceID: 8CC927F5-EC56-575F-B9E4-85542DAB8F6C; Location : country: Italy; locality: Road to Monte Adone (below Campiuno) (6), PMS, Setta Valley ; verbatimElevation: 374 m; Identification: identifiedBy: Della Bella & Scarponi; Event: eventDate: 28.VIII. 2020 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: 6; occurrenceID: AB47EEA8-8A12-584B-A831-1C7F29575591; Location : country: Italy; locality: Near Campiuno, between Monte del Frate and Monte Adone (reddish soil outcrop) (7), PMS, Setta Valley ; verbatimElevation: 421 m; Identification: identifiedBy: Della Bella & Scarponi; Event: eventDate: 30.VIII. 2020 Type status: Other material. Occurrence : recordedBy: Pedroni ; individualCount: 4; occurrenceID: 62D95ECA-5CF8-5EB3-9D6F-810F63F4ED2C; Location : country: Italy; locality: Near Campiuno , between Monte del Frate and Monte Adone (7), PMS ; verbatimElevation: 421 m; Identification : identifiedBy: Pedroni; Event: eventDate: 5.IX.2021

Notes

Shell thick, ovoidal and grossly conical; spire with 4-5 convex coils; pattern reticulated, ranging from beige to light purple; operculum calcareous or chalky. Some specimens were collected on sandy-clayey slopes that line the road connecting Monte del Frate and Monte Adone, down to a depth of 60 cm. Others were collected at similar depths in the underbrush along a creek (Fosso Raibano); finally, some specimens were collected from the underbrush floor. The species is thermophilic and euryecious; it is widespread and present on calcareous soils, in meadows and underbrush, either uncultivated or cultivated, from hills to plains ( Cossignani and Cossignani 1995). Drought periods of several months do not affect survival of this species ( Welter-Schultes 2012). Recalling it is a burrowing species, it requires a loose substrate ( Kerney and Cameron 1979), where it can dig at least 10 cm, to estivate or hibernate ( Welter-Schultes 2012). This species has been described as xerophilic and calcicolous ( Boato et al. 1984); moreover, it has been found in the Quaternary dune at Capo Mele (Savona, Italy) as a fossil ( Boato et al. 1984).