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210 F. LIberto, S. GIGLIo, M.S. CoLoMba & I. SparaCIo
FJ606497, FJ606499, GQ145509, GQ145523, cilian and surrounding geographical areas a few
GQ145525, GQ145527, GQ145538-39, GQ145553, taxa of uncertain taxonomic value are reported.
GQ145572-75, JN248291-99, JN248300-15; see also These taxa are examined below. Amalia marginata
Reise et al., 2011). Sequences were visualized with var. oretea Lessona & Pollonera, 1882 is a taxon
BioEdit Sequence Alignment Editor 7 (Hall, 1999), described for Sicily (locus typicus: “Palermo presso
aligned with the ClustalW option included in this il fiume Oreto”) only on external morphological
software and double checked by eye. Standard mea- characters: “Typica, clipeo tantum zonula nigra lon-
sures of nucleotide polymorphism and phylogenetic gitudinali mediana instructo” (Lessona & Pollonera,
analyses were conducted in MEGA 5.0.3 (Tamura 1882). The body coloration in Tandonia (=Amalia
et al., 2011). The best-fit evolution model of nucleo- Moquin-Tandon, 1855) is quite variable and topo-
tide substitution resulted GTR+G (General Time typic specimens studied by us can be traced back,
Reversible+Gamma). The evolutionary history was due to the shape of genitalia, to T. sowerbyi (Figs.
inferred by using the Maximum Likelihood me- 10-12). A. marginata var. oretea is then confirmed
thod; the bootstrap consensus tree was inferred as a synonym of T. sowerbyi (Giusti, 1973; Bank,
from 500 replicates; a discrete Gamma distribution 2012). It would have been critical examination of
was used to model evolutionary rate differences typical material, but the specimens described by
among sites (5 categories; +G, parameter = 0.4467). Lessona & Pollonera (1882) are no longer available
Codon positions included were 1st+2nd+3rd. All in their collection housed at the Museo Regionale
positions containing gaps and missing data were eli- di Scienze Naturali di Torino (E. Gavetti in litteris).
minated. Divergence among TCUS and TMAD
groups (Dxy), assessed as p distance, was 5.9%. Bourguignat (1877) established a new genus and
a new species, Palizzolia monterosati, on a single
Although genetic differences (p distance) are Milacidae shell from Calatafimi with the following
only indicative when assigning a group to a given description: “Limacelle ovalaire, épaisse, très-bom-
taxonomic rank, the distance we assessed (5.9%) bée (comme sphérique) en dessous, caractérisée en
between COI sequences obtained from specimens dessus: 1° Par une surface plane, sur laquelle on di-
collected in Madonie mountains and Custonaci not stingue un cucléus médian, circonscrit par une pro-
only is in line with values considered discrimina- fonde dépression; 2° par une forte échancrure à sa
tory at the specific level in Mollusca (i.e. Herbert partie médiane supérieure”
et al., 2003; Pfenninger et al., 2006), but it is even
greater than estimated distances separating entities Lessona & Pollonera (1882) recognise in Paliz-
accepted as distinct species (L. corsicus/L. senensis, zolia diagnostic characters of the shell of Milacidae
2.3%; L. ciminensis/L. senensis, 4.2%; L. mini- (oval, medial nucleus) and put Palizzolia in homo-
mus/L. wolterstorffi, 4.4%). nymy with the genus Milax Gray, 1855 (sub Ama-
lia). This choise was followed by Cockerell (1991),
In conclusion, phylogenetic tree (Fig. 17) and Kennard & Woodward (1926), Wiktor (1987) al-
genetic distance between TCUS and TMAD groups though with a question mark, Alzona (1971) and
firmly support the hypothesis that specimens from Barker (1999). However, the shell of Milacidae of-
Custonaci and Madonie mountains belong to two fers no morphological characters useful for a relia-
distinct Tandonia species. ble classification at both genus and species level
and therefore it is possible that Palizzolia could be
REMARKS. The genus Tandonia Lessona & Pol- an older synonym of Tandonia.
lonera, 1882 has European-Mediterranean distribu-
tion extended to the Black Sea coasts (Wiktor, 1987, The taxon monterosati was usually treated as
Giusti et al., 1995). In Italy it’s verified the presence doubtful species (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882; Minà
of six species (Bank, 2012): T. nigra (C. Pfeiffer, Palumbo, 1883; Cockerell & Collinge, 1893; Wik-
1849), T. budapestensis (Hazay, 1880), T. robici tor, 1987; Cockerell, 1991;) because the rear hol-
(Simroth, 1884), T. rustica, T. simrothi (Hesse, low, the considerable thickening of the lower part
1923), T. sowerbyi. Among them, T. sowerbyi and of the shell and the groove around the apex are ab-
T. rustica are morphologically the more similar to normalities detectable in different species of both
T. marinellii n. sp. that, on the other hand, sharply Milax and Tandonia genera; only Kennard & Wo-
differs from these taxa for all the characters descri- odward (1926) pose the taxon monterosati in syno-
bed above. Noteworthy, in bibliography about Si- nymy with Milax gagates (Draparnaud, 1801).
