Sampling the depth: New data on the Caecidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from northeastern Papua New Guinea Author Walter, Angelo Vannozzi Via M. L. Longo 8, 00151 Rome (Italy) ang.vannozzi@gmail.com Author Renda, Walter Via Bologna 18 / A, 87032 Amantea (CS) (Italy) w.renda1@tin.it text Zoosystema 2024 2024-06-07 46 14 327 347 journal article 299020 10.5252/zoosystema2024v46a14 b5619e29-fcbd-4ddc-9231-138300251568 1638-9387 12548683 23D972D0-F573-429C-816B-F42AFF02D0B1 Caecum dakuwaqa Pizzini, Raines & Vannozzi, 2013 ( Fig. 6 A-E) Caecum dakuwaqa Pizzini et al. 2013: 19 , fig. 10K-O. TYPE MATERIAL . — Holotype . Fiji • sh; SE of Viti Levu ; 18°18.5’S , 178°05.8’E ; MNHN-IM-2000-24843 . Paratypes . Fiji 8 sh; same data for holotype; MNHN-IM-2000-24844 2 sh; Bligh Water , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1314; 17°16’9”N , 178°14’51”E ; 656-670 m depth; 5.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24847 8 sh; Bligh Water , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1333; 16°50’21”N , 178°12’33”E ; 200-215 m depth; 8.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24848 2 sh; Bligh Water , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1334; 16°51’22”N , 178°13’56”E ; 251-257 m depth; 9.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24849 3 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1365; 18°12’43”N , 178°32’22”E ; 295- 302 m depth ; 15.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24850 1 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1376; 18°18’40”N , 178°9’4”E ; 497-504 m depth ; 17.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24851 2 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn DW1381; 18°17’46”N , 177°54’25”E ; 275-430 m depth ; 18.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24852 2 sh; SE Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn CP1354; 17°42’36”N , 178°54’58”E ; 959-963 m depth ; 12.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24853 4 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn CP1363; 18°12’23”N , 178°33’0”E ; 144-150 m depth ; 15.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24854 9 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn CP1366; 18°12’21”N , 178°33’3”E ; 149- 168 m depth ; 15.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24855 14 sh; S Viti Levu , MUSORSTOM 10 Stn CP1369; 18°11’7”N , 178°23’26”E ; 392-433 m depth ; 16.VIII.1988 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24856 . Vanuatu 1 sh; S-SE Santo , MUSORSTOM 8 Stn DW1072; 15°39’53”N , 167°19’36”E ; 622-625 m depth ; 4.X.1994 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24845 15 sh; E Santo , MUSORSTOM 8 Stn DW1105; 15°2’35”N , 167°7’29”E ; 154-179 m depth ; 7.X.1994 ; MNHN-IM-2000-24846 . TYPE LOCALITY . — Pacific Ocean, Fiji , southeast of Viti Levu, 18°18.5’S , 178°05.8’E , 260-305 m depth. MATERIAL EXAMINED . — Papua New Guinea 1 sh; New Ireland ; 2°44’S , 150°35’E ; 240-305 m depth ; 3.IX.2014 ; KAVIENG 2014 Stn DW4463; MNHN 2 sh ( 1 juv); New Ireland ; 2°45’S , 150°37’E ; 163- 358 m depth ; 3.IX.2014 ; KAVIENG 2014 Stn DW4470; MNHN . DISTRIBUTION . — Northeastern PNG (new record), Vanuatu , Fiji ( Pizzini et al. 2013 ; Vannozzi 2019b ). FIG . 5. — Caecum miliarium n. sp. : A -D , holotype MNHN-IM-2000-38946; E -I , paratypes MNHN-IM-2000-38947; E , growth stage; F , specimen with partially worn temporary septum; H -I , postlarval specimen, different views. Scale bar: 1 mm, details not to scale. DIAGNOSIS . — Shell small for the genus, colourless, transparent, with several brownish annular bands separated by three-four times as-wide interspaces. Protoconch unknown. Teleoconch tubular, slightly arched, dextrally twisted, with very fine rings. Early teleoconch conical. Adult shell slender, subcylindrical, flaring toward the aperture, then contracting and ending with a reflected lip. Septum almost flat without mucro, recessed below the cutting plane. Operculum and soft parts unknown. Adult shell length 1.8 mm . REMARKS This species is distinctive due to the subcylindrical twisted tube with bell-shaped aperture. The specimens recorded from PNG are very fresh and allowed to recognise the presence of a colour pattern in this species, never reported so far. In fact, this species is characterised by a colourless transparent shell with narrow brown annular bands separated by three or four times as-wide interspaces. Further knowledge on this species came from a juvenile specimen ( Fig. 6C, D ), showing a more twisted and more tapering tube. This species occurs in several IWP localities but was recorded always below 100 m depth, suggesting that its habitat occurs in the mesophotic-aphotic zone.