Discovery of the mountain glass snail, Hessemilimax kotulae (Westerlund, 1883) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Vitrinidae), in the High Vosges Mountains (northeast France) and its conservation

We report here four new localities for the mountain glass snail Hessemilimax kotulae (Westerlund, 1883) in the northeast part of France. These new records extend the range of this species considerably within the Vosges Mountains, where it was previously known from only a single site. Specimens were found at the base of or in scree slopes facing mainly north or northeast or along streams in fir or mixed forests, at elevations between 863 and 1145 m. Because H. kotulae is difficult to find and identify, we provide the description of habitats where the species has been found and the associated gastropod assemblages as well as morphological and anatomical characters in order to facilitate its identification by non-malacological conservationists. Finally, we revised the species conservation status on the French Red List. We further discuss the conservation of land snails that reach the upper limit of their distribution at the highest elevations of the low mountain ranges in north-eastern France, in the context of global warming.