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

Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849) has been recorded from 19 sites in ten regions of Italy, but only six of these records could be checked: five were correct and one was based on a misidentification. In the last 30 years, recent specimens have been found in ten sites in only six regions of Italy (Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Campania, Calabria and Sardinia). Despite its 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 structure of the apertural armature; their size range is broader than that previously recorded for the species. Some of the smallest Italian specimens fall in the size range of Vertigo lilljeborgi Westerlund, 1871, but their assignment to this species would not be realistic because they are the smallest specimens from populations with the same size range as that of V moulinsiana.