Freshwater gastropods are one of the most species-rich and severely threatened animal groups in continental aquatic ecosystems. Unfortunately, understanding their species diversity, which is key to conservation, is often hampered by their small size, simple morphology, and restricted distribution. This is particularly the case for spring snails of the genus Pseudamnicola (family Hydrobiidae), a species-rich taxon across the Mediterranean region. Contrasting species diversities derived from molecular phylogenies and traditional taxonomy call for a holistic approach, in which molecular markers are used to identify putative taxonomic units that can then be validated morphologically. We integrated DNA sequence and morphometric data from 92 populations into a species delimitation framework to assess the taxonomic status of 25 nominal and 14 informally recognized species of Pseudamnicola across its geographical range. Although seven discovery methods delimited a varying number of putative species, taking an integrative approach generally improved species support over single datasets. The statistically favoured integrative scheme corroborated 30 of the 39 initial species as separate entities, whereas nine require taxonomic re-evaluation. Six species are described here formally. Pseudamnicola exemplifies the importance of considering multiple lines of evidence to evaluate species diversity in taxonomically complex groups, with newly developed approaches providing the needed toolbox.

中文翻译：

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物种界定的整体视角优于基于淡水腹足动物（Caenogastropoda：Hydrobiidae：Pseudamnicola）单一数据类型的所有方法

淡水腹足动物是大陆水生生态系统中物种最丰富、受威胁最严重的动物群之一。不幸的是，了解它们的物种多样性是保护的关键，但往往因其体积小、形态简单和分布有限而受到阻碍。对于 Pseudamnicola 属（Hydrobiidae 科）的春季蜗牛来说尤其如此，该属是地中海地区物种丰富的分类单元。对比源自分子系统发育和传统分类学的物种多样性需要采用整体方法，其中分子标记用于识别推定的分类单位，然后可以在形态学上进行验证。我们将 92 个种群的 DNA 序列和形态测量数据整合到物种界定框架中，以评估 Pseudamnicola 地理范围内 25 个名义物种和 14 个非正式认可的物种的分类地位。尽管七种发现方法界定了不同数量的假定物种，但采用综合方法通常可以改善对单个数据集的物种支持。统计上支持的综合方案证实了 39 个初始物种中的 30 个为独立实体，而 9 个需要分类学重新评估。这里正式描述了六个物种。Pseudamnicola 例证了考虑多种证据来评估分类学复杂群体中物种多样性的重要性，新开发的方法提供了所需的工具箱。