Another new eulimid (Gastropoda Eulimidae) from the Mediterranean Sea: Vitreolina micalii n. sp.

Abstract

Vitreolina micalii n. sp. (Gastropoda Eulimidae) is here described on materials found in shallow waters along the Northern coast of Catania (Eastern Sicily, Ionian Sea). Findings include both live-taken and empty specimens, whose shell and soft parts have been observed and documented. Further specimens have been found in few other localities of Sicily and Corsica. The new species is morphologically distinguishable by a spiny, smooth shell, similar to some other congeners except for some details, and a sculptured protoconch. The different external chromatism of the soft parts is similar only to V. perminima , but it is different in some aspect hereafter discussed. Differences from similar species from Eastern Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are useful to discard the alien origin of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.