Three new bathyal raphitomine gastropods (Mollusca: Conoidea) from the Indo-Pacific region
Author
Morassi, Mauro
Author
Bonfitto, Antonio
text
Zootaxa
2013
3620
4
579
588
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3620.4.7
4d9302b4-24fa-4cf8-90f9-c11cbab4e3d3
1175-5326
223876
AFC61767-0243-4AC4-B4BE-A143C28EAE05
Genus
Mioawateria
Vella, 1954
Remarks:
Vella (1954) originally introduced
Mioawateria
as a subgenus of
Awateria
Suter, 1917
, with
Awateria (Mioawateria) personata
Powell, 1942
, an Early Pliocene species from
New Zealand
, designated as the
type
species. According to its describer, the subgenus
Mioawateria
is characterized by the presence of strongly shouldered whorls and a narrow moniliform subsutural fold. Powell (1966) provided a list of species, all from the
New Zealand
Tertiary, he regarded as characteristic of
Mioawateria
and referred both
Awateria
and
Mioawateria
to subfamily
Borsoniinae
. Beu (1969) used
Mioawateria
as a full genus and transferred it to the
Raphitominae
on the basis of the presence of diagonally cancellate protoconch sculpture. Maxwell (1988) widely discussed the classification of
New Zealand
fossil
Mioawateria
species and recognized the following three fossil species:
M. personata
(Powell, 1942)
,
M. expalliata
(Laws, 1947)
and
M. aitanga
Grant-Mackie and Chapman-Smith, 1971
, this latter characterized by strong spiral sculpture and possibly belonging to a distinct lineage (P.A. Maxwell pers. comm.). Fischer (1927) described
Mangilia (Pleurotomella) extensaeformis
var.
crasselirata
from the Pliocene of Timor which seems to represent a valid species with a relatively well developed spiral sculpture. Maxwell (1988) also recognized the recent
Pleurotomella extensaeformis
Schepman, 1913
, a species with a broad Indo-Pacific distribution (Okutani, 1968; Sysoev, 1996; Thiele, 1925), as a recent member of the genus.
According to Appeltans
et al.,
2012 (World Register of Marine Species, accessed at http:// www.marinespecies.org)
Mioawateria
is represented in the recent fauna by four species.
A possible fifth species is
Gymnobela rhomboidea
Thiele, 1925
reported by Sysoev (1997) as a
Mioawateria
. Recently, Figueira & Absalão (2012) referred
Pleurotoma (Bela) blakeana extensa
Dall, 1881
,
Pleurotomella
(
Gymnobela
?) malmii
Dall, 1889 and
Clathurella watsoni
Dautzenberg, 1889
to genus
Magnella
. The authors claimed that the synonymy of
Magnella
with
Mioawateria
is unwarranted as the
holotype
of
Mioawateria personata
(Powell, 1942)
,
type
species of
Mioawateria
, has broken and eroded protoconch. We have examined specimens of
M. personata
from the Waiauan (Middle Miocene) of Karoro quarry, Greymouth (
New Zealand
) studied by Maxwell (1988) and stored at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS accession number GS3341, J32/f7585) which bear a typical raphitomine protoconch (fig. 2.D–E). These specimens conform in all teleoconch features to the
holotype
of
Mioawateria personata
(GNS accession number TM 3761), from the Opoitian (Early Pliocene) of Mangawhero Stream, Wairoa (
New Zealand
) (fig. 2.A–C). Even assuming the remote hypothesis that
M. personata
actually had a paucispiral protoconch, its inclusion within the family
Raphitomidae
would not be excluded as demonstrated by numerous raphitomine species, such members of
Taranis
, bearing this
type
of protoconch. For these reasons we agree with Maxwell’s proposed synonymy and regard the species cited above as members of
Mioawateria
. The genus
Mioawateria
certainly occurred in the Miocene to Early Pleistocene of
Italy
(in prep.) with at least two taxa bearing “typical” morphological features, namely the Late Miocene
Pleurotoma brevis
Bellardi, 1847
and the Pliocene-Early Pleistocene
Genotia brevis pliorecens
Ruggieri, 1957
, introduced as a chronosubspecies of
P. brevis
, which closely resemble
Mioawateria personata
Powell, 1942
and the recent
Mioawateria vivens
sp. nov.