Geographic distribution and genital morphology of the genera Lozekia Hudec, 1970 and Kovacsia Nordsieck, 1993 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Hygromiidae)

Abstract

The Lozekia-Kovacsia species group comprises three species occurring in the Carpathian-Pannonian region, namely Lozekia transsilvanica (Westerlund, 1876), Lozekia deubeli (M. Kimakowicz, 1890) and Kovacsia kovacsi (Varga & L. Pinter, 1972). These species are known to be distinguishable by their genital morphology but, up to now, only a few populations have been examined anatomically. Due to their conchological similarity, distribution records that have been based on individuals of unknown anatomy are unreliable, and the ranges are far from being well defined. First we identified the type locality of L. transsilvanica and investigated the genital morphology of topotypical material in order to ensure the correct use of this name. Furthermore, we carried out a morphological analysis of Lozekia -Kovacsia material collected throughout the postulated range of this species group. Of the previously proposed species-specific features, the structure of the dart-sac complex and the number of digitiform glands were found to be the most reliable. Based on these genital characters, we re-defined the ranges of the three species; those of K. kovacsi and L. deubeli were found much larger than believed previously. Finally, we describe the morphology of the spermatophore of K. kovacsi, which was found in this species for the first time. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)