REDISCOVERY AND A REDESCRIPTION OF VERMETUM FESTINANS FROM LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS (GASTROPODA PULMONATA: GASTRODONTIDAE)

Vermetum festinans was hitherto known only from a few shells collected on La Palma. It is the type species of Vermetum, which has sometimes been classified in the Pristilomatidae. The recent allocation of a second species newly discovered on Gran Canaria, V. tamadabaensis, to the same genus was based only on close similarity of its shells to those of V. festinans. The genus was transferred to the Gastrodontidae from the Pristilomatidae on the basis of characters of the genital anatomy shown by V. tamadabaensis. Efforts to refind living V. festinans were successful in 2015, allowing the redescription here of its shells and habitat and the first studies of its genital anatomy. It closely resembles V. tamadabaensis anatomically, sharing the presence of a sarcobelum and three "bridges" joining parts of the distal genitalia, differing only in details. The new data therefore confirm that the genus Vermetum should be transferred to the Gastrodontidae and that two species should be recognised.