Helix elata var. caprensis Bellini, 1899c: 114

Fasulo, Giuseppe, Duraccio, Sergio, Federico, Antonio & Crocetta, Fabio, 2019, The (almost) unknown Italian naturalist Raffaello Bellini (1874 - 1930): biography malacological publications, and status of his recent molluscan taxa, Zootaxa 4668 (3), pp. 343-369 : 357

Helix elata var. caprensis Bellini, 1899c: 114

Type locality: Capri Island (Naples, Italy) .

Original description: “testa magis depressa quam in typo; fasciis duobus annularibus subtus ornata; lateribus magis concavis. È questa una distintissima varietà della H. elata caratterizzata da 2 fasce brune annulari alla base e attorno all’ombelico, dal profilo a lati più convessi le danno minor acutezza di spira” [comprising both Latin and Italian: a very different variety of H. elata —now Trochoidea caroni (Deshayes, 1832) —with an apex less prominent/acute than the nominal taxon; characterized by 2 brown annular bands at the base and near the umbilicus; less convex outline].

Material examined: four glued shells labelled “ Helix (Teurricula) caprensis —Capri ”, “ Helix (Turricula) caprensis Bellini—(Xerophila)—Capri”, and labelled by Monterosato “A Capri non esiste altro che questa” [In Capri Island exists nothing else but this] (MZF2—Z6908) ( Fig. 5A, B ); five glued shells labelled “Dono Monterosato” [Donated by Monterosato], “ Helix (Turricula) elata —(Xerophila)—Capri”, and labelled by Monterosato “Capri! Tipi dell’ Helix elata (F. B.) Ferussac [Capri! Similar to the typical Helix elata (F.B.) Ferussac] (MZF2—Z6909) ( Fig. 5C, D ); four shells labelled “ Helix elata F. Big. —Capri” (MZF2—Z6910) ( Fig. 5E ); one shell labelled by Bellini “ Helix (Tropidocochlis) elata, Faure-Biguet var. elevata, Bellini—Isola Capri ” (MCCIC—drawer 19, n. 273) ( Fig. 5F ). All the above-mentioned shells come from the type locality of Helix elata var. caprensis Bellini, 1899c and belong to Trochoidea caroni (Deshayes, 1832) . Also Maio et al. (2013) mentioned shells collected by Bellini located in MZF2 and MCCIC, but did not specify if these constituted type material or not. Noteworthy, Helix elata var. elevata Bellini reported above was never introduced or even mentioned in any article by Bellini.

Remarks: Helix elata Rossmässler, 1837 is a junior synonym of Trochoidea caroni (Deshayes, 1832) (e.g. Sacchi 1953; Bodon et al. 1995; Giusti et al. 1995); despite this, Fasulo (2013) incorrectly considered H. elata var. caprensis Bellini, 1899 as synonym of H. elata . Having been instituted as a geographic race, we rank H. elata var. caprensis subspecific, and thus available ( ICZN 2012: Art. 10, glossary). Considered indistinguishable from T. caroni by several authors ( Sacchi 1953, 1955a, 1955b, 1956; Maio et al. 2013), it should be listed among junior synonyms of the latter. Strangely, in the general overview of the non-marine molluscan species living in the Naples area published by the same author, Bellini (1915) only listed Tropidocochlis elatus and Tropidocochlis caroni from Capri Island, but did not mention his own variety. This suggests that he also presumably considered it as invalid subsequent to its formal introduction. We were also not able to date the samples found in MZF2. Trochoidea caroni was found again in Capri Island during recent field studies (Petraccioli 2005; Petraccioli et al. 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 5. A–F. Helix (Turricula) caprensis, Helix (Turricula) elata, and Helix (Tropidocochlis) elata var. elevata. A, C, E, F. Shells from Capri Island (Naples). A–F. Original labels handwritten by unidentified curators, Monterosato (B: down; D: up), and Bellini (F). A, B: MZF2—Z6908 (up to 5 mm in total height); C, D: MZF2—Z6909 (up to 7 mm in total height); E: MZF2—Z6910 (up to 7 mm in total height); F: MCCIC—drawer 19, n. 273 (9×6 mm).