Background: Amongst the genus Rumina, R.paivae was decribed from North Africa for the first time by Lowe in 1861 on the basis of a limited number of samples. During the 19th and 20th centuries, it was described several times, under different names and different ranks leading to a taxonomic imbroglio before being forgotten. In 2002, Mienis rehabilitated R.paivae, but Prevot et al. (2013, 2014) considered it as a large phenotype of R.decollata Linnaeus (1758) on the basis of genetic and anatomical studies.
New information: In this study, we present morphological and anatomical comparisons and differences between two groups of shells collected in France and considered as R.decollata. Using seven morphological characters related to the size and one to the microscopic sculptures of the shell and two related to the eggs and the colours of the morphs, we attribute these two groups to two morphologically described species: R.paivae and R.decollata. We propose a way to easily distinguish them from each other. With regard to their distribution, morphology and genetics, we discuss their relative systematic position. Moreover, in this study, we report for the first time R.paivae, a given north African taxa, in the south-ast of France, in Marseille.
Keywords: French Mediterranean area; Ruminapaivae; anatomy; eggs; morphology.
Louis Aureglia, Jean-Baptiste Guy, Magali Deschamps-Cottin, Bruno Vila.