Bythinella padiraci Locard, 1903
Endemic to the system of Padirac cave-river, Lot.
Originally present in the upstream part of the river (Armand Viré, 1903), the species seems to have deserted this area since it has been open to the public, but is still present in the Lavaur river and the active parts of De Joly tributary. It lives also upstream the chasm (PAD009 – siphon S2 and PAD010 – downstream the pool leading to the S1). The present specimen comes from the station PAD010: upstream the chasm, Galerie de la Grande Arcade, in sediments collected in the tunnel facing the dam (Bichain & Fabriol, june 2003). 2,6mm. Altitude ≈ 200m (100m underground).
« A very small shell, about twice as tall as large, subcylindrical lengthened, barely narrower at the summit than at the base; whorls 4-5; the first one very small, the following ones much convex, rounded anteriorly, growing fast, regularly, progressively; apex very obtuse, rounded-flattened; suture linear, simple, rather marked resulting from the convexity of the whorls; last whorl a little elevated, slightly taller than the half of the total height, widely arched laterally, rounded at the base, strongly sloping at the extremity; umbilical chink narrow but discernible; aperture subcircular, slightly narrower posteriorly than anteriorly, about as tall as the third of the total height, set in a barely oblique plane, with its main axis very weakly inclined to the shell axis; peristome continuous in fully adult specimens, thin, straight, sharp; test rather solid, thin, smooth, glossy, subopaque, of a yellowish white… » – A. Locard: “Description de Mollusques nouveaux appartenant à la Faune souterraine de France et d’Italie”, Bulletin du Muséum d’histoire naturelle vol. 8, Paris 1902, p. 608. – Same spot. 2,2-2,8mm.
On river bank, in sediments, 20m upstream Lesur camp. This population is said to show a highest variability in shell morphology than the populations of other rivers in the cave. Vincent Prié legit. 2,4mm.
