Daudebardia (Daudebardia) rufa subsp. atlantica Bourguignat 1870
Abstract
Daudebardia (Daudebardia) rufa atlantica Bourguignat, 1870 Figs 77, 78 Daudebardia atlantica – Bourguignat 1870, p. 15–16, pl. 4, figs 9–12 Moll. nouv. 2 – Dans la forêt de l’Edough, près de Bone. Daudebardia (Daudebardia) rufa atlantica – Wagner 1952: 122–123 – In dem Wald von Edough bei Bône in Algerien und Tala-Guizaa, Kabylia. Riedel 1978: 145–148, figs 8–9, 18–19 – Lebt in der Umgebung von Annaba in NO-Algerien, hauptsächlich im Gebirge Djebel Edough. Material examined. No specimens in our samples. Diagnosis. The shell is oval, the coiled part of the shell occupies 40–50 % of the length (due to the less narrowly coiled spire), and the umbilicus is moderately wide. It differs from Daudebardia brevipes by its regularly rounded last whorl (straight in D. brevipes), which gives the shell an oval rather than an oblong shape; the initial whorls are less narrowly coiled and occupy a larger portion of the fully grown shell, umbilicus is wider. Distribution. Northeastern Algeria. Ecology. It lives in humid litter among leaves and plant debris or under stones, feeding on invertebrates. Remarks. Riedel (1978: 9, figs 18, 19) re-examined the type series of D. atlantica Bourguignat, 1870 (t. l. Bone), selected a lectotype and provided the first description and illustration of the genitals. He tentatively classified D. atlantica as a subspecies of D. rufa, although the shell and the genitals do not show relevant differential features. Borredà and Martínez-Ortí (2017) listed with a question mark the presence in Algeria of the two most common European species, D. brevipes (Draparnaud, 1805) and D. rufa (Draparnaud, 1805). Although a modern revision of the genus Daudebardia s. str. is urgently needed, we prefer to maintain the classification proposed by Riedel (1978), considering the geographical isolation of the Algerian populations and the few known data points on the genitalia of D. rufa atlantica. Riedel (1978) regarded D. nubigena Bourguignat, 1870 as a subspecies of D. rufa, characterised by a wider last whorl in the spiral part. Based on the original description of D. nubigena and the drawing of the syntype illustrated by Riedel (1978: 146, figs 10–11), it could be a junior synonym of? Vitrina letourneuxi. The two taxa, D. nubigena and? V. letourneuxi, were described from the same locality, i. e., the summit of the Little Atlas near Blida, Algeria.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Mollusks and Parasites Studies
Marine Biology and Ecology Research
Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology
Publication details
- Publication date
- 27 February 2026
- Language
- EN