Balea sarsii is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae. It remains disputed whether B. sarsii or Balea heydeni von Maltzan, 1881 is the correct name.
| Balea sarsii | |
|---|---|
| |
| Apertural view; scale bar 1 mm. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Clausiliidae |
| Genus: | Balea |
| Species: | B. sarsii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Balea sarsii | |
| Synonyms[5] | |
|
Balea heydeni von Maltzan, 1881[3] | |
The species had long been overlooked because of confusion with Balea perversa.
Taxonomy
editThe specific name sarsii is in honour of Norwegian biologist Michael Sars.
In 2006, Gittenberger et al.[6] separated this species from the closely related, common and widespread Balea perversa and redescribed it under the name Balea heydeni von Maltzan, 1881. However, in 2010 von Proschwitz[5] argued that a species described in 1847 from Norway, Balea sarsii, was the same as B. heydeni and that the former name should be used because it is the older. The evidence was that this species was found at the implied type locality of B. sarsii (Florø in Sogn og Fjordane County), where M. Sars is believed to have collected the specimens used in the species description. Subsequently Bank[7] argued that the original B. sarsii could just as easily have been B. perversa, which is much commoner in Norway. "Norway" was the only explicit specification of the type locality in the species description. In that case B. sarsii would be a junior synonym of B. perversa, and the other species should be called B. heydeni.
The dispute is unresolved: for instance Welter-Schultes' identification guide[8] uses B. sarsii, but MolluscaBase[9] prefers B. heydeni, as does the 2020 British List.[10]
Bank[7] also argued why the name Balea lucifuga applies to B. perversa, even though Bourguignat was applying it to B. sarsii when he made the name available in 1857.
Distribution
editThis species is know to occur in:[5]
- Portugal both mainland and the Atlantic Islands
- northwestern Spain
- coastal parts of France
- coastal parts of Belgium
- coastal parts of the Netherlands
- Great Britain
- Ireland
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Norway: Hordaland County and Sogn og Fjordane County
Balea sarsii has an Atlantic distribution. In Britain and Ireland it is the commoner of the two Balea species, occurring also inland. The only locality in Denmark is Møns Klint. A 2010 revision of Balea material from Sweden and Norway revealed two localities for B. sarsii from the Swedish west coast (the Island of Vinga outside Göteborg and the Island Storön in the archipelago of Väderöarna in the province of Bohuslän). The species is known from six Norwegian localities, of which five are situated in Hordaland County. It is considered a very rare species in Norway, because only sixteen Norwegian specimens have been found, among thousands of Balea perversa.[5]
The type locality is Florø in Sogn og Fjordane County. This is also the northernmost locality of Balea sarsii known in Europe.[5]
Description
edit
Like with most other species in the family Clausiliidae, the shell of this species is sinistral (left-handed) in its coiling. The most reliable distinction from Balea perversa is that the first whorls of B. sarsii increase in diameter more rapidly, so that the appearance is conical, whereas these whorls in B. perversa are more like a cylinder. The shell of B. sarsii is broader and yellowish rather than darker brownish. The shell surface sculpture has wrinkled coarse growth lines rather than the finer and more regular riblets in B. perversa. A weak, parietal denticle may be present in B. perversa, but not in B.. sarsii.[5]
Ecology
editBalea sarsii sometimes co-occurs with Balea perversa.[5] Such syntopic occurrences are not uncommon in various parts of the distribution area, and probably both species have very similar ecologies.[5] Balea species are rarely found on the ground; they are climbers and live on vertical surfaces (rocks, trees, etc.)[5]
References
editThis article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference[5]
- ^ Seddon, M.B. (2017). "Balea heydeni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T171560A1328134. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T171560A1328134.en.
- ^ (in German) Pfeiffer L. (1847). "Diagnosen neuer Heliceen". Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie 4(6): 81-84. page 84.
- ^ (in French) Maltzan H. von (1881). "Description de deux espèces nouvelles". Journal de Conchyliologie 29(2): 162-163. page 162, plate 6, figure 6.
- ^ Bourguignat J. R. (1857). "Aménités malacologiques". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie pure et appliquée (2)9: 545-565, Plate 16-17. page 557, plate 17, figure 16-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j von Proschwitz, Ted (2010). "Three land-snail species new to the Norwegian fauna: Pupilla pratensis (Clessin, 1871), Vertigo ultimathule von Proschwitz, 2007 and Balea sarsii Philippi, 1847 [= B. heydeni von Maltzan, 1881]". Fauna Norvegica. 30: 13–19. doi:10.5324/fn.v30i0.628.
- ^ Gittenberger, E.; Preece, R.C.; Ripken, T.E.J. (2006). "Balea heydeni von Maltzan, 1881 (Pulmonata: Clausiliidae): an overlooked but widely distributed European species". Journal of Conchology. 39 (2): 145-150.
- ^ a b Bank, R.A. (2011). "Authorships and publication dates in malacology: some notes on the 2011 French checklist of Welter-Schultes & al" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft. 86: 13–24.
- ^ Welter-Schultes, F. (2012). European non-marine molluscs: a guide for species identification. Göttingen: Planet Poster Editions. ISBN 9783933922755.
- ^ MolluscaBase Editors. "Balea heydeni Maltzan, 1881". Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Anderson, R.; Rowson, B. "Annotated list of the non-marine Mollusca of Britain and Ireland [2020 edition]" (PDF). Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
External links
edit