Revision of the Helicellinae of Crete (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae)

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive revision of the Helicellinae of Crete (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae) based on characters of the shell and the genitalia. The native fauna includes eleven Xerocrassa species, two Pseudoxerophila species, and perhaps one Xeromunda species. One additional Xerocrassa species and eight species of the genera Trochoidea, Xeropicta, Xerolenta, Xerotricha, Microxeromagna, and Cernuella were probably introduced by man to Crete. The distribution patterns of the endemic Xerocrassa and Pseudoxerophila species do not provide evidence for the hypothesis that these radiations were caused by the fragmentation of the region of present-day Crete into several palaeoislands in the late Miocene and Pliocene. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London.