The distribution and taxonomy of Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849) in Italy (Gastropoda : Pulmonata : Vertiginidae)

Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849) has been recorded from 19 sites in ten re gions of Italy, but only six of these records could be checked: five were c orrect and one was based on a misidentification. In the last 30 years, rece nt specimens have been found in ten sites in only six regions of Italy (Pie dmont, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Campania, Calabria and Sardinia). Despite i ts wide distribution, the species seems very rare and extremely localized. This makes it difficult to propose a conservation strategy. Italian specimens of V. moulinsiana vary widely in shell shape and in the s tructure of the apertural armature; their size range is broader than that p reviously recorded for the species. Some of the smallest Italian specimens fall in the size range of Vertigo lilljeborgi Westerlund, 1871, but their a ssignment to this species would not be realistic because they are the small est specimens from populations with the same size range as that of V moulin siana.