Monachoides is a genus of medium‐sized European land snails in the family Hygromiidae. Systematics of this family was until recently based on traits of the genital system that were shown to be uninformative, resulting in revisions of classifications at the genus and family levels. Up to six species were recognized in Monachoides lately, but the inclusion of three of these species was questionable. Our phylogenetic analysis and...

Switzerland’s drainage systems are divided into three major European river basins, i.e. the Po, the Rhône, and the Rhine basins. Until recently 32 species of freshwater mussel species (i.e. belonging to the genera Anodonta and Unio ) were recognized for the country, albeit their identity and number remain uncertain especially, given the recent recognition of Unio mancus Lamarck, 1819 from the Rhône in France, and Unio elongatu...

The subterranean realm of the Cantabrian-Pyrenean region of northern Spain harbours a rich diversity of Zospeum . Due to their tiny size and the difficulty of finding them alive, scarce animal material has been available for scientific investigation. Recent investigations of Zospeum shells have provided valuable, but limited insights towards our understanding of the evolutionary processes occurring within this taxon in norther...

The vast diversity of land snail forms is insufficiently understood even in seemingly familiar taxa. This holds for Helix Linnaeus, 1758, a genus with several common edible species which comprises the largest Western Palearctic snails. The taxonomy of this genus, which has a centre of diversity in the eastern Mediterranean, has recently undergone significant changes, in both the delimitation of the genus itself and its species...