Freshwater molluscs fauna of Western Ukraine and its representation in museum collections of Lviv

Abstract

Based on the literary and personal data, as well as collections of the State Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine and the Zoological Museum of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the taxonomic composition and peculiarities of the spatial distribution of gastropods and bivalve molluscs in Western Ukraine have been analyzed. Species lists have been drawn up for the Volhynian (Western) Polissia, Volhynian Upland, Male Polissia, Roztochya and Opillya, Western Podillia, Central (Northern) Podillia, Prut-Dnister interfluve, Ciscarpathian, Transcarpathian lowland and mountainous part of the Ukrainian Carpathians. It is established that in the west of Ukraine, 74 autochthonous and 6 adventitious freshwater molluscs with generally recognized species status, belonging to 35 genera and 15 families, can be considered as reliably registered. Adventitious to Western Ukraine are Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Physella acuta, Menetus dilatatus, Dreissena polymorpha, D. bugensis, Sinanodonta woodiana. Additional confirmation requires the presence of Lithoglyphus pyramidatus, Omphiscola glabra, Physella heterostropha, Planorbis carinatus, Pisidium conventus, P. tenuilineatum. Not taking into account the Central Podillia, poorly researched by malacologists, a distinctly pronounced decrease in the species richness of freshwater molluscs is observed only in the mountainous part of the Ukrainian Carpathians (38 species, 17 genera, 8 families), with the presence of some specific components of freshwater molluscs complexes (small gastropods of the genera Bythinella і Paladilhiopsis). The richest taxonomic composition of freshwater molluscs was noted for Volhynian Polissia: 67 species, 29 genera, 15 families. It has been found that most freshwater molluscs are evenly distributed throughout the plain and foothill territories of Western Ukraine. Only few species can be considered as specific components of freshwater malacocomplexes for one of the physical-geographical areas or river basins. A number of species that are not present in the malacological collection of SMNH NASU, as well as the territories poorly represented in it, have been identified. The results obtained will be taken into account when further collecting the museum collection.