New taxonomical, distributional, and ecological data on the Helicodontidae (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata) of Crete (Greece)

Until now, the family Helicodontidae has been represented in Crete by two genera, Lindholmiola Hesse, 1931 and Helicodonta A. Férussac, 1821, with one species each, H. wilhelminae Maassen, 1991 and L. barbata (A. Férussac, 1821). We studied for the first time the reproductive system of H. wilhelminae and reclassify this species as Lindholmiola wilhelminae comb. nov. We present further details on its distribution and ecology and discuss the observed differences between recent and old shells. Based on the rich alcohol and shell materials in the Natural History Museum of Crete, we observed an impressive inter- and intra-population variability within L. barbata. The shells vary in form and size; small shells are associated with ecological factors and large shells with the northern part of Lefka Ori, the high mountains in western Crete. The reproductive system variation exceeds the limits of L. barbata species and confuses the species-specific characters of the genus, indicating the need for a new revision.