Helix (Pelasga) figulina Rossmässler, 1839

Figs 34, 35

References.

Neubert 2014; Korábek et al. 2022.

Description.

Shell (Fig. 34) very small (the smallest Helix species in Greece), globular, with large body whorl and spacious aperture; no umbilicus; protoconch very small; shell surface with regular, rounded ribs and lacking spiral sculpture; shell pale greyish or brownish, with the lower two bands narrow and the upper three faint and most often partly fused; aperture margins straight and white; white columella rounded and smoothly transitioning into the palatal area. Animal (Fig. 35) pale brownish with darker, brown or reddish-brown, back, mantle margins pale grey; calcareous diaphragm conspicuously convex and attached to the very margins of the aperture.

Distribution and habitat.

Very common species distributed over large part of mainland Greece and the Peloponnese (Fig. 36), but completely missing from the west (<21.5– 22.0°E). It is broadly distributed from the southeast of North Macedonia (valleys of Strumica and Vardar, isolated occurrences reported up to Kumanovo) and southeastern Bulgaria (Thrace) to the Aegean islands (Cyclades, Northern Sporades, Lesvos, Samothraki, etc.). It also lives in a small area of western Anatolia (e. g. the ancient Pergamon and Troy). Fossils were found on Crete (Kotsakiozi et al. 2012). It lives in open, often exposed habitats with low vegetation. May be difficult to find alive when inactive because it buries itself into the soil. Geophilous.

Remarks.

Helix figulina is easily recognisable due to small size, a very small protoconch, globular shell shape with large aperture, rounded columella smoothly transitioning to the bottom of the previous whorl, completely white aperture margins, and regularly ribbed surface. It may be found syntopically or nearly so with H. lucorum, H. borealis, H. philibinensis and H. pelagonesica. Helix philibinensis is the most similar species overlapping in size, but it has a blunter apex, smoother shell surface, smaller aperture which usually has at least partially coloured margins.