Tag Archives: Helix (Hystricella) bicarinata var. ß aucta Wollaston

Hystricella aucta (Wollaston)

Small Hystricella Snail (Hystricella aucta 

This species was described in 1867, originally as a kind of a subspecies or variety of another species, Wollastonia vermetiformis (R. T. Lowe), or as a fossil form of a closely related recent species, Hystricella bicarinata (G. B. Sowerby) respectively.  

The Small Hystricella Snail is known from several Quaternary mud deposits along the southeastern coast of Porto Santo, Madeiran Islands, Portugal.  

The distinctly dome-shaped shells reach sizes of 0,5 to 0,6 cm in diameter. [1]  

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The Small Hystricella Snail disappeared before the scientific exploration of Porto Santo in the 19th century, it probably died out due to natural changes in the microclimate of its habitat.  

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References:  

[1] Willy De Mattia; Marco T. Neiber; Klaus Groh: Revision of the genus-group Hystricella R. T. Lowe, 1855 from Porto Santo (Madeira Archipelago), with descriptions of new recent and fossil taxa (Gastropoda, Helicoidea, Geomitridae). ZooKeys 732: 1-125. 2018  

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edited: 23.03.2018