Iberhoratia gatoa ( Boeters, 1980 ) Arconada & Delicado & Ramos, 2007

Arconada, Beatriz, Delicado, Diana & Ramos, M. Ángeles, 2007, A new genus and two new species of Hydrobiidae (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda) from the Iberian Peninsula, Journal of Natural History 41 (29 - 32), pp. 2007-2035 : 2027-2028

Iberhoratia gatoa ( Boeters, 1980) n. comb.

( Figures 8 , 9 )

Horatia gatoa Boeters 1980, p 62 –64, Figures 5 , 7 , 8 .

Type locality

A cave named Hundidero del Gato , Benaoján, Málaga, UTM: 30SVF003673 .

Material examined

Type material. Holotype: (shell and operculum) in the NNM collection (55467). Shell of the holotype, which has the peristome damaged, has been examined ( Figure 8A–C ). The following paratypes are deposited in different collections but they were not examined: NNM 55468/1 (juvenile shell and operculum), NNM 9079 /1 (juvenile in alcohol), Boeters 948/4 (damaged shell with operculum and three genitalia from two males and one female).

Type material excluded from the species. Shell originally included by Boeters into H. gatoa ( Boeters 1980, Figure 65 Figure 9C, D in this paper), is re-identified as Milesiana schuelei ( Boeters, 1981) (in Arconada and Ramos 2006).

Description

Original description in Boeters (1980) and redescription ( Boeters 1988) ( Figures 8A–C , 9A, B, E, F ; Table VIII). Anatomical description was based on two males and one female. The following description is based on the original one excluding the shell re-identified as M. schuelei , and on the study of the holotype.

Shell shape valvatiform, with 3.5 whorls. The aperture does not ascend or descend near the last whorl. Shell aperture is rounded. Operculum pale yellowish, without any outgrowth. Rectum Z-shaped. Penis with a small lobe located in a medial position. Female genitalia has a well-developed bursa copulatrix, an elongated distal seminal receptacle, and a proximal receptacle lying tightly over a widened part of the renal oviduct.

Remarks

Original illustrations of female genitalia of Ib. gatoa ( Boeters 1980) show a widened renal oviduct, which may have a seminal receptacle bent and adhered to the renal oviduct as in Ib. morenoi and Ib. aurorae , and a distal seminal receptacle ( Figure 9F ) as is the normal female genital disposition for Iberhoratia species.

According to the measurements given by Boeters (1980) in the original description, the shell length varies from 0.8 to 1.5 mm and shell width from 1.3 to 1.5 mm. In the figure caption the holotype width is 1.5 mm and length 1.5 mm. We cannot determine if this variability in shell values indicates that Boeters included in the species description measurements of the other three specimens for which anatomy was studied. Original shell illustrations from the holotype ( Figures 8A–C , 9A, B ) and paratype of H. gatoa ( Figure 9C, D ) correspond to two specimens, which may not be conspecific. The paratype of H. gatoa ( BOE 948) has a much flatter shell relative to the holotype, probably corresponding to Milesiana schuelei ( Boeters, 1981) (in Arconada and Ramos 2006), a species which is very abundant in the type locality of Ib. gatoa . In fact, shell measurements from this paratype (shell width 1.2 mm; length 0.8 mm) correspond to that described for M. schuelei . We can either consider that this paratype is actually a juvenile of Ib. gatoa , or that it belongs to M. schuelei . The second hypothesis seems to be more feasible because the growth rate of this shell is greater than that of the holotype. For this reason we have proposed that this specimen might be excluded from the type material ( Arconada and Ramos 2006). Nevertheless, the genital illustrations from two other paratypes (one male and one female) with the same collection number ( BOE 948) illustrated by Boeters (1980, Figure 9E, F ) actually correspond to the typical anatomical scheme of the genus Iberhoratia .

Figures

Figure 5. Shells of Iberhoratia aurorae. (A–D, G) Shells from Robladillo de Gata; (E, I) shells from Roturas; (F, H, J, K) shell (holotype) from population between Hervás and Jerte (type locality). (H–K) Protoconch and microsculpture. Scale bar: 500 Mm (A–G).

Figure 6. Operculum and radula of Iberhoratia aurorae from type locality. (A) Internal side of the operculum; (B) external side of the operculum; (C) radula; (D) central and lateral teeth; (E) central tooth; (F) lateral and internal marginal teeth. Scale bar: 200 Mm (A, B); 100 Mm (C).

Figure 7. Anatomy of Iberhoratia aurorae from type locality. (A, B) Partial nervous system; (C) osphradium and ctenidium; (D) rectum curve; (E) stomach; (F) head of a male and penis; (G) anterior female genitalia; (H) bursa copulatrix and seminal receptacles. Abbreviations in text. Scale bar: 500 Mm (A–H).

Figure 8. Holotype of Iberhoratia gatoa (RMNH 55467). Scale bar: 500 Mm (A, B).

Figure 9. Original illustrations of Iberhoratia gatoa (Boeters 1980, p 63). (A, B) Holotype (RMNH 55467), shell width 1.5 mm; (C, D) paratype (BOE 948), shell width 1.2 mm; (E) penis (paratype BOE 948); (F) anterior female genitalia (paratype BOE 948).