Bythinella punica (Letourneux & Bourguignat)

Scarlet Spring Snail (Bythinella punica 

The Scarlet Spring Snail inhabited springs near the city of Enfidaville in the Sousse Governorate, Tunisia, a habitat that no longer exists.  

The last living members of this species were found at the end of the 19th century.  

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It is possible, however, that this species is identical with the likewise extinct Kairouan Spring Snail (Bythinella limnopsis Letourneux & Bourguignat).  

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Another tiny spring-snail species whose name appears in several lists of extinct molluscs (Mercuria punica (Letourneux & Bourguignat)) very likely is identical with this species, but if it indeed turns out to be valid however, it must be placed in a different family (Hydrobiidae). [1]

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References:

[1] Peter Glöer; Hans D. Boeters; Frank Walther: Species of the genus Mercuria Boeters, 1971 (Caenogastropoda: Truncatelloides: Hydrobiidae) from the European Mediterranean region, Morocco and Madeira, with descriptions of new species. Folia Malacologica 23(4): 279-291. 2015

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edited: 05.05.2019