Megavitrina libanica ( Germain, 1911 )

Ruud, A. Bank, Henk P. M. G Menkhorst & Eike Neubert, 2016, Descriptions of new and little-known land snail taxa from Turkey, and establishment of a new genus (Gastropoda, Pulmonata: Lauriidae, Enidae and Vitrinidae), Basteria 80 (1), pp. 5-30 : 26-28

Megavitrina libanica ( Germain, 1911) ( Figs 22-23 ) Vitrina libanica Germain, 1911: 31 -32. Type locality: "Je dois à M. P. Pallary la connaissance de cette espèce recueillie par le Frère Louis, dans la chaîne du Liban. L’indication précise de la localité ne m’a pas été fournie".

Vitrina libanica var. hidachariyensis Germain, 1911: 32 . Type locality: "Marette à Hidachariyé, près de Damas, entre 650 et 700 mètres d’altitude [H. Gadeau de Kerville]".

Vitrina libanica – Germain, 1912: 441.

Vitrina libanica – Germain, 1921: 13, 34, 82-83 ("découverte par le Frère Louis en divers points de la chaîne du Liban où elle paraît rare ...... Aramoun, Fareit, Hakel et Fédar-Foha".

Vitrina libanica – Germain, 1922: 176, pl. 5 figs 7-9 ("Aramoun").

Vitrina libanica – Tohmé & Tohmé, 1988: 70-71 ("sous les oliviers de Haqel à 800 m d‘altitude"; "Assez commune dans la région de Jbeïl, au Kesrouane et au Chouf surtout dans les oliveraies“).

Remarks. – Tohmé & Tohmé (1988) claimed that this species is common in several localities in the central part of Lebanon. One of the authors (Neubert) visited the country in 2008 and 2011, aiming to collect M. libanica in order to clarify its taxonomic position.

These attempts failed as no specimens were found, although all localites mentioned by Thomé & Thomé were visited. This failure is not simply an artifact caused by visits during summer time (we assume the animals to be active during the humid winter season). In none of the many localities visited all over the country, not even a trace of a shell could be found! This signalizes that we are dealing with a massive decline of the populations of this enigmatic species during the last 30 years, at least.

The species has also been reported from Syria by Germain (1911: 32) under the variety name hi- dachariyensis. Remarkably, neither the variety name nor the locality was mentioned by Germain (1921: 82- 83). We have not found its type locality “Hidachariyé” on any studied map.

Figures

Figs 21 - 23. Megavitrina from Turkey and Lebanon. 21, Megavitrina imperatoria spec. nov., holotype NMBE 548324 (D = 16.2 mm), Turkey, Vil. Adıyaman, under rocks on top of the Nemrud Dağ, 2150 m. 22 - 23, Megavitrina libanica (Germain, 1911), MNHN (D = 15.3 mm), labelled as “ Beyrouth? ”. All photographs Bochud & Neubert, × 5.