Morphological and molecular analysis reveals a new genus and two stygobiotic snail species, indicating evolutionary links between Middle Eastern and European subterranean fauna.
The stygobiont gastropods of Iran remain poorly studied. In the present paper, two new species of Hydrobiidae are described from Tuveh seasonal spring, close to Tuveh village, Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, Iran: one representing a new genus and the other a new species putatively assigned to the genus Pseudamnicola . The shell, soft part morphology, radula, female reproductive organs and penis are described. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial COI, nuclear histone H3, and ribosomal 28S genes place the new genus as a sister to a clade comprising the Balkan genus Montenegrospeum and Martensamnicola hissarica from Tajikistan. This clade is closely related to the Balkan genus Dalmatinella Radoman, 1973 and the European genus Belgrandia Bourguignat, 1869 within the subfamily Belgrandiinae De Stefani, 1877. Anatomical features also suggest affinities with the Turkish genus Turcorientalia Radoman, 1973, although molecular confirmation is not possible due to the lack of DNA data for the latter. A second new species from the same locality is described based on shell morphology and is provisionally assigned to Pseudamnicola Paulucci, 1878.
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