A number of hydrobiids recently discovered in wells and hyporheic waters of streams in various sites of central Morocco, have been found to have all the conchological characters typical of the type species of the genus Heideella Backhuys & Boeters, 1974, H. andreae Backhuys & Boeters, 1974, which is reported from southern Morocco. The anatomical characters confirm that Heideella, originally described on the basis of shell characters only, is a valid genus of the Hydrobiidae endemic to Morocco. The populations of central Morocco differ to some extent in their shell shape from H. andreae. Since no direct comparison of their anatomical characters and those of topotypes of H. andreae can be made because the latter have never been found complete with soft parts, all the newly discovered populations except one are referred to as H. cf. andreae. Anatomical study of the other population which has a more cylindrical-elongated shell, brought to light additional characters which support the creation of a new species, H. makhfamanensis n. sp. A redescription of Heideella and a list of characters which distinguish it from the other genera of the Hydrobiidae conclude the paper.

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Basteria

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Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging

Marco Bodon, Mohamed Ghamizi, & Folco Giusti. (1999). The Moroccan stygobiont genus Heideella (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia: Hydrobiidae). Basteria, 63(1/3), 89–105.