Paladilhiopsis lozeki, Grego, Jozef, Gloeer, Peter, Eross, Zoltan Peter & Feher, Zoltan, 2017

Grego, Jozef, Gloeer, Peter, Eross, Zoltan Peter & Feher, Zoltan, 2017, Six new subterranean freshwater gastropod species from northern Albania and some new records from Albania and Kosovo (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Moitessieriidae and Hydrobiidae), Subterranean Biology 23, pp. 85-107 : 87-88

Paladilhiopsis lozeki sp. n. Figs 5-6

Diagnosis.

Differs from Paladilhiopsis szekeresi sp. n. (Albania, Tamarë) and P. prekalensis sp. n. (Albania, Prekal) by its larger and more elongated shell, less tumid more flattened whorls, its more acuminate apex, its narrower umbilicus and the shape of the aperture. P. wohlberedti sp. n. (Albania, Tamarë) has a significantly more conical shape with fewer whorls and different proportions as well as its larger, differently shaped aperture. Montenegrospeum bogici (Montenegro, Podgorica) from family Hydrobiidae has a larger conical shell with more tumid whorls and proportionally larger aperture. Bosnidilhia vreloana (Bosnia, Banja Luka) has a similar shell shape with fewer whorls, more tumid apical whorls, blunter apex, and a proportionally smaller, more elongated aperture.

Type

locality.

Albania, Tropojë district, Shoshan, Burimi i Shoshanit (Shoshan Spring), 270 m, 42.3862°N; 20.0795°E (Fig. 2B).

Type

material.

Holotype, Type locality, leg. Erőss, Fehér, Grego, Szekeres, 01.07.2016 (HNHM 100169).

Measurements.

H 2.00 mm; W 0.85 mm; WB 0.75mm; HA/H 0.30, HB/H 0.26 (Holotype).

Etymology.

Named after the well renowned Czech malacologist and an ever-helpful friend, Vojen Ložek (Prague, Czech Republic), who contributed significantly to the knowledge of Recent and Pleistocene mollusc fauna of Europe.

Description.

The whitish shell has 5 ½ convex, slightly flattened whorls with a smooth surface, a semi-deep suture and a blunt apex. The shell has slim, elongated, subconical shape with ovoid aperture and closed umbilicus. The left side of the aperture extends very slightly beyond the columellar axis, declining from it by ca. 25 degrees. Aperture is situated under the last whorl and is not prominent on the shell periphery outline. The slightly outward reflexed peristome is equally thick along its outline. The labral lip is sinuous with forward declining lower end by 13 degrees from the columellar axis. The aperture is detached from last whorl by a tiny gap at the suture.

Habitat.

Shoshan Spring is situated in a natural limestone amphitheatre close to left bank of the Valbona River, and it forms a prominent spring-fed lake supplied by water from multiple debris outlets at its southern side and from the adjacent waterworks outlet at its eastern side. A small side spring can be found at the northern side of the path to the waterworks building. An old watermill is located at the spring lake outlet to the Valbona River. The new subterranean species likely inhabits the interstitial water of the underground gravel sediment layer. Empty shell of the new species were collected in the sandy sediment of spring water outlet at the left side of the broad spring zone south of the waterworks building.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality, where it was found together with a spring gastropod that most likely belongs to the genus Graeconatolica . The latter species could be described once representative material becomes available.