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486 N. MAIO, A. PETRACCIOLI, P. CROVATO, N. AMOR & G. ODIERNA

In his writings, Bellini (1899, 1900, 1901, 1910, ricolata, che corrisponde alle forme descritte dal
1915, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926) reports it with var- Bellini (1915) come H. caroni Desh. e H. elata
ious names: Helix (Xerophila) turrita Phil., Helix Faure”. Subsequently (Sacchi, 1955a, 1955b, 1956a),
(Tropidocochlis) turrita Phil., Tropidocochlis elatus he states that “Helicella (Trochoidea) caroni Desh.
Faure Biguet, Tropidocochlis turritus Phil., H. (Tropi- and H. elata Faure” are indistinguishable on Capri.
docochlis) elata Faure Biguet, Tropidocochlis Ca- Three specimens found in Via Tragara in August
roni Deshayes, H. (Xerophila) elata Fer. var. 1979 are kept in the S. Duraccio collection (ex coll.
caprensis and claims it to be a rare species on Capri, Pirozzi no. 69). During our study on Capri, we
though locally abundant in litter at Castiglione, Arco found T. caroni in 10 stations ranging in altitude
Naturale, Via Krupp and Pizzolungo. Bellini (1901) from about 25 m to 200 m, but only in two of these
describes a hypsometric zone of Capri between stations did we find live specimens (Table 1, Figs.
Valletta (120 m) and Mt. S. Michele (245 m), which 11–13, 27). They were found at the base of the
he calls “zona di H. elata e H. surrentina”. He dis- trunks or near superficial roots of mainly legumi-
tinguishes an eastern subzone where H. elata pre- nous plants typical of Mediterranean maquis,
dominates. Bellini (1899; 1900) also describes a growing on calcareous rock in the littoral zone (Pe-
variety caprensis (Bellini, 1899: pp. 4–5), “rara nella traccioli et al., 2005a, 2005b, 2006). The h/d ratio
parte occidentale dell’isola, nelle zolle incolte al di was about 1.05.
sotto del Castello Barbarossa” [rare in the western There is an interesting report of fossils of this
part of the island, in uncultivated turf and below species from Capri. Segre (1959) reports it as Helix
Castello Barbarossa]. Original specimens collected caronii (sic!) Desh. (F. Settepassi det.) found in cal-
by Bellini are kept in the malacological collection carenite of Villa Jovis (Monte di Lauro, Capri), a
of the Zoological Museum of Naples University well-cemented, medium to coarse grained calcare-
Federico II and in the museum of the Centro ous sandstone from the Lower Pleistocene (Barat-
Caprense “Ignazio Cerio” on Capri (Maio, pers. tolo et al., 1992; Petraccioli et al., 2007).
obs.). Sacchi (1953) reports its presence on Capri, Sacchi (1953) states that it is possible to find
on Mt. Tuoro and Mt. Solaro, in sparse garigues with “una piccola forma, (...) mostrante affinità con He-
rosemary, as: “endemita del gruppo Helicella (Tro- licella elegans e forme simili” at the base of coastal
choidea) elegans Gm., a spira elevata e a forma tur- cliffs between Amalfi and Positano (Salerno).

Specimens Sampling stations Date Habitats Alt. m UTM

Trackfrom via Mesola to Fortino Dry stone walls,
Living 17.04.2004 37-150 3289
Mesola (Anacapri) mediterranean maquis
Living Fortino Mesola (Anacapri) 17.04.2004 Mediterranean maquis 37 3289
“Belvedere o Piazzetta delle Noci” Pinewood, dry stone walls.
Shells 15.04.2004 194 3789
(Capri) In humus
Shells Scala Fenicia, quarto tratto, Capri 06.04.2003 On calcareous rock 67-100 3489
18.07.2003,
Shells Via Krupp (Capri) On calcareous rock 25-125 3588
01.11.2003
Shells Via Arco Naturale (Capri) 18.07.2003 In litter 75 3788

Shells Via Pizzolungo (Capri) 16.04.2004 In litter 50-100 3688
Shells Via Cesina (Capri) 16.11.2003 Dry stone walls. In debris 150-200 3689
Shells Giardini Augusto (Capri) 24.01.2004 Gardens. In debris 75-96 3688

Shells Monte Tamborio (Capri) 07.11.2003 On calcareous rock. In debris 200 3689

Table 1. Faunistic data of Trochoidea (Trochoidea) caroni from Capri Island.