Bithynia (Bithynia) starmuehlneri, Glöer & Pešić, 2012

Gloeer, Peter & Pesic, Vladimir, 2012, The freshwater snails (Gastropoda) of Iran, with descriptions of two new genera and eight new species, ZooKeys 219, pp. 11-61 : 17-18

Bithynia (Bithynia) starmuehlneri sp. n. Figs 6a-c

Bulimus (Bithynia) leachi troschelii : Starmühlner and Edlauer 1957, non troschelii Paasch, 1842 (synonymy)

Type locality.

Border of Lake Urmia, W Azarbayian, 1949 leg. Starmühlner.

Holotype.

NHMW (50940): shell height 10.3 mm, width 5.6 mm.

Paratypes.

9 ex. from the type locality.

Etymology.

Named after Ferdinand Starmühlner, who collected this species in 1949.

Description.

The whitish shell is elongated conical with 6.5 whorls, which are convex with a deep suture and a small and acute apex. The umbilicus is open. The aperture is ovate. The margin of the aperture is, from lateral view, straight. The surface is smooth with fine growth lines. Shell height 8.2 - 10.3 mm, width 4.6 - 6.4 mm.

Differentiating features.

This slim species isthe largest Bithynia sp. known in Iran. It can be easily distinguished from the other Bithynia spp. by the larger dimensions of elongated shell with the stepped whorls and the not angled aperture.

Remarks.

This species has been misidentified by Starmühlner and Edlauer (1957) with Bithynia troschelii .

Figures

Figure 6. Shell of Bithynia starmuehlneri sp. n. a frontal view b lateral view c juvenile shell with operculum.