A review of species of the genus <i>Theodoxus </i>(Gastropoda: Neritidae) of the Ponto-Caspian region, with considerations on available type materials

Abstract

An illustrated overview of the type series of nominal taxa of the gastropod genus Theodoxus (Neritidae) inhabiting the Ponto-Caspian region is presented. It is made on the basis of a revision of large European malacological collections and includes descriptions of the type specimens of 16 taxa of different rank (species, variety, morph). Apart of these, the “type” specimens of four taxa with unavailable names have been traced in ZIN collection; we illustrate them to show the variability of Ponto-Caspian Theodoxus. In most cases, the photographs of the type specimens are published for the first time. We provide a taxonomic analysis of all studied type series, with comments on the nomenclature, systematic position and taxonomic rank of all nominal taxa of Theodoxus recorded from the Ponto-Caspian area.