Clathrocaspia gmelinii

Wesselingh, Frank, Poorten, Jan Johan ter, Kijashko, Pavel, Albrecht, Christian, Anistratenko, Olga Yu, Frolov, Pavel, Gándara, Alberto Martinez, Gittenberger, Arjan, Gogaladze, Aleksandre, Mikhail Karpinsky, Popa, Luis, Sands, Arthur F, Vandendorpe, Justine & Wilke, Thomas, 2019, Mollusc species from the Pontocaspian region - an expert opinion list, ZooKeys 827, pp. 31-124 : 66-67

Clathrocaspia gmelinii (Clessin & Dybowski in Dybowski, 1887)

*1887 Caspia Gmelinii Clessin & Dybowski in Dybowski: 37-38.

1888 [ Caspia ] Gmelini [sic] n. sp. - Dybowski: 79, pl. 3, fig. 7a, b.

1969 Pyrgula (Caspia) gmelinii (Cless. & W. Dyb.). - Logvinenko and Starobogatov: 378, fig. 367(7).

?1969 Pyrgula (Caspia) sowinskyi Logvinenko and Starobogatov: 378, fig. 367(4).

?1977 Pyrgula (Caspia) gaillardi Tadjalli-Pour: 107, pl. 2, fig. 8.

2015 Caspia gmelinii Clessin & W. Dybowski, 1887. - Boeters et al.: 178, figs 1-6.

2016 Caspia gmelinii Clessin & W. Dybowski in W. Dybowski, 1888. - Vinarski andKantor: 224.

Status. Accepted Pontocaspian species.

Type locality. Caspian Sea (no details).

Distribution. Endemic to the Caspian Sea, recorded from the middle and southern parts. This species was mentioned from depths between 200 and 300 m in the South Caspian Basin of Azerbaijan ( Mirzoev and Alekperov 2017, who reported the species as Turricaspia gmelinii ).

Taxonomic notes. The broad shell and the heavily reticulated surface distinguish this species from congeners. Pyrgula sowinskyi , from the middle and southern Caspian Sea, and P. gaillardi , from the Caspian Sea shore between Astara and Hashtpar (= Talesh), Iran, closely resemble C. gmelinii in terms of shell shape, the shape of the aperture, and the distinct reticulate teleoconch sculpture. Very likely, the two species are synonyms of C. gmelini . Since the type material of Logvinenko and Starobogatov (1969) has not been found, and the whereabouts of the material of Tadjalli-Pour (1977) is unknown, a re-examination of these species has to be postponed. Here, we suggest to treat them as nomina dubia until more information becomes available.

Conservation status. Data Deficient (same for P. sowinskyi ; Son 2011a, Vinarski 2011o).