Torrenticola (Torrenticola) similis (K. Viets, 1939)

Torrenticola (Torrenticola) similis (K. Viets, 1939) - complex

Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ; Table 1

Torrenticola meridionalis [in part] Pešić et al. 2021b, 2025c; Szenejko et al. 2023.

Material examined: Montenegro: “ T. meridionalis “ 2♂ (barcoded; DCDDJ020-21 , DCDDJ037-21 ), Crkvine , Bistrica stream, 42.8054° N, 19.4456° E, 11 Jun. 2021, leg. Pešić, Jovanović & Manović GoogleMaps , 1♂ (voucher Id : CCDB 38361 View Materials B08) dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH) ; “ T. meridionalis “ 1♂ (barcoded; DCCDB022-21 ), Kolašinska rijeka stream, 42.8391° N, 19.5749° E, 30 Jul. 2020, leg. Pešić GoogleMaps ; “ T. meridionalis “ 1♂ (barcoded; HYDBH002-22 ), Kutska river , 42.6561° N, 19.7875° E, 23 Mar. 2021, leg. Pešić GoogleMaps ; “ T. meridionalis “ 1♀ (barcoded; DCCDB048-21 ), Tara River canyon, Bistrica stream, 42.9871° N, 19.4338° E, 29 Jul. 2020, leg. Pešić. GoogleMaps

“ T. similis “ 1♀ (barcoded; DCDDJ021-21 ) , Crkvine , Bistrica stream, 42.8054° N, 19.4456° E, 11 Jun. 2021, leg. Pešić, Jovanović & Manović; “ T. similis “ GoogleMaps 1♂ (barcoded; HYDMN564-24 ) , Crkvine , Bistrica stream, 42.80528° N, 19.446667° E, 23 May 2028, leg. Zawal & Pešić, dissected and slide mounted (voucher Id: K76_37; RMNH) GoogleMaps .

Remarks: Pešić et al. (2021b) showed that the Balkan populations assigned to T. meridionalis Sabatino & Cicolani, 1990 , a species originally described from south Italy (Calabria, Sicily) and later on reported from different part of the Balkans ( Di Sabatino et al. 2010), belong to two widely distributed haplogroups, BOLD:AED7519 and BOLD:AEI3402, respectively. Re-examination of the specimens assigned to BOLD:AEI3402 and published by Pešić et al. (2021b) under the name T. meridionalis Clade 3 (=TorrM-III Clade) revealed that this identification was erroneous; these specimens actually belong to T. similis .

Moreover, the record by Szenejko et al. (2023) of a male specimen (BGS1 B14a) collected from a limnocrenic spring in Babia Góra Mountain, Poland, which molecularly falls into T. meridionalis Clade 3 sensu Pešić et al. 2021b (=BOLD:AEI3402), should also be assigned to T. similis . The Polish specimen, as clearly shown in the photographs provided by Szenejko et al. (2023), is characterized by an elongated idiosoma and an excretory pore distinctly embedded in the area of primary sclerotization.

An examination of the male specimen from Montenegro assigned to BOLD:AEK9661 and published by Pešić et al. (2021b, 2025c) as T. similis , revealed that it morphologically matches the description of the aforementioned BOLD:AEI3402 specimens. Both BINs share the following diagnostic features: the excretory pore is located in a mediposterior indentation of primary sclerotization; Vgl-2 is shifted posterior to the excretory pore and the postgenital area is elongated (28-30% of the total idiosoma L). Differences include the P-2 shorter than P- 4 in the BOLD:AEI3402 specimen and the excretory pore being incorporated into the area of primary sclerotization (though traces of fusion are still visible) in the same specimen (compare Figs. 1B and 1D View Figure 1 , and measurements in Table 1). The p -distance between these two BINs was estimated 11.4%, indicating a long history of genetic isolation. To clarify the taxonomic status of the above-described lineages, more specimens need to be molecularly analysed, including specimens from the type locality of T. similis in the French Pyrenees.

Measurements of the examined males are provided in Table 1.