Four nominal species of the genus Horatia Bourguignat, 1887 were described by Russian authors from Caucasian caves (H. borutzkii Shadin, 1932, H. birsteini Starobogatov, 1962, H. ljovushkini Starobogatov, 1962 and H. sokolovi Starobogatov, 1962). Hitherto all the species were known from type series (presented by empty shells) only. Examination of newly obtained samples from the caves of South Caucasus has shown that the four species actually do not belong to the genus Horatia due to obvious differences in the morphology of the copulatory organs between H. klecakiana Bourguignat, 1887 (the type species of this genus) and the Caucasian snails. Moreover, statistical analysis of conchological variation has revealed that the species H. birsteini, H. ljovushkini, and H. sokolovi are conspecific. Two genera are described: Pontohoratia (includes P. birsteini and P. smyri sp. nov.) and Motsametia (with the single species M. borutzkii comb. nov.). The two genera can be distinguished on the basis of the structure of their copulatory organs. The distribution and ecology of the Caucasian Horatia-like mollusks are briefly outlined.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4EDFB2AE-CB1D-4113-8CC7-3A1BBB46D838.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2237-2253
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Natural History
Volume48
Issue number37-38
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2014

    Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

    Research areas

  • Hydrobiidae, Motsametia gen. nov, new species, Pontohoratia gen. nov, South Caucasus (Transcaucasia), stygobiont snails, taxonomy

ID: 36399953