Laevicaspia sp.

Neubauer, Thomas A. & Wesselingh, Frank P., 2023, The Early Pleistocene freshwater mollusks of the Denizli Basin (Turkey): a new long-lived lake fauna at the crossroads of Pontocaspian and Aegean-Anatolian realms, Zitteliana 97, pp. 53-88 : 53

Laevicaspia sp.

Fig. 9A-C

Material.

1 specimen (RGM 962609) from sample 2.

Dimensions.

8.21 × 4.10 mm.

Remarks.

The size and shape of the shell and the oblique, large, and slightly thickened aperture leaving a narrow umbilicus are characteristic of the Pontocaspian genus Laevicaspia . The species reminds of the Quaternary-extant species L. lincta (Milaschewitsch, 1908) from the Black Sea. That species is known for its high variability, which has led previous authors to introduce numerous species names ( Wesselingh et al. 2019). The Denizli specimens differ from that species by a slightly broader shell with convex, spruce-like whorl profile. Laevicaspia lincta has mostly straight-sided whorls, sometimes convex ones; only some specimens approach this type of morphology [see lectotype illustrated by Kantor and Sysoev (2006: pl. 45, fig. D) as well as the holotype of Pyrgula iljinae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1966, now considered a synonym of L. lincta in Kantor and Sysoev (2006: pl. 49, fig. D)]. Also, the broad shell shape is approached by the holotype of the synonym Pyrgula (Laevicaspia) milachevitchi Golikov & Starobogatov, 1966 depicted in Kantor and Sysoev (2006: pl. 45, fig. C).

Another similar species is Prososthenia sublaevis Oppenheim, 1919, described from “Laodicäa”, an ancient city 6 km north of Denizli. It differs in the flattened whorls and the presence of a weak subsutural band. Prososthenia gregaria (Fuchs, 1877) from the Early Pleistocene of mainland Greece is more slender and has low-convex whorls (see also Esu and Girotti 2020, fig. 9A-F).

Potentially our specimen represents an undescribed species, but given the limited material availability and the high morphological variability of related taxa, we do not introduce a new name.

Figures

Figure 9. Pyrgulinae (Hydrobiidae) of the Kolankaya I fauna. A-C. Laevicaspia sp., RGM 962609, sample 2. Scale bar: 1 mm.