Rediscovery of Terebratulina austroamericana Zezina, 1981 (Brachiopoda: Cancellothyrididae) from off northern Chile
Author
Araya, Juan Francisco
Author
Bitner, Maria Aleksandra
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-04-11
4407
3
443
446
journal article
30299
10.11646/zootaxa.4407.3.11
d8e560aa-04ae-4e95-9f39-57c784c0212d
1175-5326
1216534
2FCF5578-7EEF-4F99-A415-7C0E90EEA0F2
Terebratulina austroamericana
Zezina, 1981
(
Figs. 1A–1E
,
2A–2D
)
1892
Terebratulina crossei
Davidson—Fischer and Oehlert
, pp. 257–264, pl. 8, figs. 1–8.
1981
Terebratulina austroamericana
Zezina
, p. 155–157, figs. 1a, 1b.
Material
examined.
One
live specimen, entangled in long-lines, off
Caldera
(
26°42’00” S
;
71°08’00” W
),
Región de Atacama
,
Chile
, at about
2000 m
depth,
FV
Juan Antonio
(Caldera),
20 March 2015
(
MPCCL
16112015
).
Description.
Shell large (L=
35.4 mm
, W=
36.1 mm
, T= 14.0 mm;
Figs. 1A–E
), thin, translucent, whitish in color, strongly punctate (
Fig. 2A
). Shell outline circular, length almost equal to width, maximum width near mid-length; lateral and anterior margins rounded, apical angle about 110°. Shell slightly ventro-biconvex (see
Fig. 1D
), dorsal valve damaged in present specimen (
Fig. 1A
). Lateral commissure nearly straight, forming an angle around 120° with the anterior edge of the beak; anterior commissure rectimarginate. Beak short, rounded, suberect, foramen slightly attrite, large, circular, permesothyrid with minute, rudimentary disjunct deltidial plates. Pedicle wide and short, distally divided into rootlets (
Fig. 2B
). Shell surface of both valves covered with numerous ribs of rounded-triangular section with intercalated intermediate ribs up to fourth order (
Fig. 2C
). Some additional ribs bifurcate towards anterior edge; about 100 fine ribs present at edge of ventral valve, giving border a minute crenulation. Uneven, fine commarginal growth lines cross radial ribs. Ventral valve with a sub-circular (or sub-elliptical) convexity in lateral view (
Fig. 1D
), but with a clearly regular parabolic outline in posterior or anterior views (
Fig.1
, C, E); dorsal valve slightly convex in lateral view (
Fig. 1D
). Ventral valve interior with small hook-like teeth, pedicle collar short. Muscle scars not evident in examined specimen. Crura long and thin. Loop broken, with only wide, flattened dorso-ventrally descending branches preserved (
Fig. 2D
); during removal of soft body a broad transverse band became detached.
FIGURE 1.
Terebratulina austroamericana
Zezina, 1981
, conjoined shell. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Anterior view. D. Lateral view. E. Posterior view.
Distribution
. Known previously from a single specimen collected off
Valparaíso
, central
Chile
, at
700 m
depth; this species may also be distributed south to the Straits of Magellan, in
18–700 m
(
Zezina 1981
,
2010
). Now recorded from northern
Chile
, with a depth range of
18 to 2000 m
.
Remarks.
In the original description of the species (
Zezina 1981
), the
holotype
was illustrated only by line drawings of the brachial skeleton, and details of the exterior ribbing and general shell morphology were not illustrated. The present specimen confirms the status of this species, whose
type
material suggested to
Cooper (1982)
that it may represent a young individual of
Terebratulina kiiensis
Dall and Pilsbry, 1891
. This close similarity was also mentioned by
Zezina (2010)
who suggested that
T
.
austroamericana
may possibly be a geographical subspecies of the widespread species
T
.
kiiensis
. Details of the shell indeed suggest relationship with
T. kiiensis
; however, the studied specimen differs in several characters (e.g. foramen size, apical angle, outline of shell) from the description of
T
.
kiiensis
given by
Cooper (1982)
. The present specimen is also considerably larger than the
holotype
(
36.1 mm
x
35.4 mm
versus
17 mm
x
16
mm). However, in other details it is consistent with the original description of
T. austroamericana
.
This work adds to the scarce information on brachiopods from the Peruvian province; the present record from northern
Chile
extends the biogeographical range of this species significantly northwards and suggests a continuous distribution of this species along the Chilean continental margin.