Zospeum njegusiense Jochum & Ruthensteiner 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Jochum, Adrienne
name: Michalik, Peter
name: Inäbnit, Thomas
name: Kneubühler, Jeannette
name: Slapnik, Rajko
name: Vrabec, Marko
name: Schilthuizen, Menno
name: Ruthensteiner, Bernhard
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Ellobiida
Ellobiidae
Zospeum
Zospeum njegusiense

description: Zospeum njegusiense Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 882B9D99-6028-4DC7-B9A0-82033E474B39
Fig. 17
Diagnosis
Shell conical with 5¼ flatly convex whorls; aperture reniform; penultimate whorl over ½ height of body whorl; columella slender with a distinctly sculpted and broad lamellar band obliquely projecting ca ⅓ beyond the width of the slender columella; a second, barely visible low lamella is present at mid-section of the columella. Suture deep.
Etymology
This species is named after its type locality Njeguši, Montenegro.
Type material
Holotype (SEM sample)
MONTENEGRO • (Fig. 17A, D); Njeguši, St John’s cave; 42.4307° N, 18.8115° E, 915 m a.s.l.; ca - 85 m vertical depth below the cave entrance; 5 Aug. 2021; László Dányi & Nikolett Ujhegyi leg.; NMBE 572639 (ex AJC 2483).
Paratypes (SEM sample)
MONTENEGRO • (Fig. 17B–C, E); 2 specs (broken shells); same collection data as for holotype; NMBE 578378 (ex AJC 2483).
Description
MEASUREMENTS. Holotype: sh: 1.37 mm; sw: 0.96 mm; ah: 0.61 mm; aw: 0.61 mm; 0.63; hlw: 0.88 mm; SA: 68.04 deg.
Shell subfossil, eroded; conical with 5¼ flatly convex whorls; aperture reniform; penultimate whorl over ½ height of body whorl; teleoconch smooth with intermittent impressed striations on the body whorl; suture deep; parietal shield well defined, thick, long, and angular, curved at max. whorl convexity; peristome notch prominent at upper junction with parietal shield; smooth, impressed irregular ribbing behind peristome; columella slender with a distinctly sculpted and broad lamellar band obliquely projecting ca ⅓ beyond the width of the slender columella; a second, barely visible low ripple is present at mid-section of the columella.
Distribution
This species is only known from the type locality, St John’s cave in Njeguši, Montenegro.
Remarks
The species differs from Z. kolbae Jochum, Inäbnit, Kneubühler & Ruthensteiner sp. nov. in its uniformly conical shell form and its narrow, reniform apertural shape. Though the straight and robust columella is reminiscent of that in Z. njunjicae Jochum, Schilthuizen & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., the pronounced configuration of the lamella differentiates significantly from the weak low lamella of that species (as seen in all its Micro-CT perspectives) except perhaps the dorsal view, which is different altogether in bearing a distinctive lamellar bulge and a secondary low lamella above the tortional formation at the base of the columella. Though the shell is eroded, it shares no whorl size dimensions nor body whorl or penultimate whorl shape with the unidentified and unassessed morphospecies, Zospeum sp. 1 (NMBE 577052–577053) (Fig. 16C–E) also found in St John’s cave.
description: Published as part of Jochum, Adrienne, Michalik, Peter, Inäbnit, Thomas, Kneubühler, Jeannette, Slapnik, Rajko, Vrabec, Marko, Schilthuizen, Menno & Ruthensteiner, Bernhard, 2024, 3 D X-ray microscopy (Micro-CT) and SEM reveal Zospeum troglobalcanicum Absolon, 1916 and allied species from the Western Balkans (Ellobioidea: Carychiidae), pp. 1-62 in European Journal of Taxonomy 926 on pages 47-48, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.926.2469, http://zenodo.org/record/10847806