Late Pleistocene Red Sea Mollusca: 1. Polyplacophora
Author
Dell’Angelo, Bruno
Author
Landau, Bernard M.
Author
Sosso, Maurizio
Author
Taviani, Marco
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-05-11
4772
3
401
449
journal article
22261
10.11646/zootaxa.4772.3.1
d807f185-5391-4c8c-84c6-2550370b3cd3
1175-5326
3819654
F546A223-59A0-4DA1-9102-AD7BC482105F
Parachiton hylkiae
Strack, 1993
(
Fig. 3
)
Leptochiton
(
Parachiton
)
hylkiae
Strack 1993
, p. 4
, pl. 1, figs 2–8, pl. 2, figs 1–4;
Schwabe 1997
, p. 28, 2 figs p. 30;
Kaas & Van Belle 1998
, p. 92;
Anseeuw & Terryn 2004
, p. 6, 22;
Kaas
et al.
2006
, p. 18, fig. 2, map 18.
Parachiton hylkiae
;
Kaas 1996
, p. 373;
Saito 1996
, p. 165;
Sirenko 2015
, p. 145.
Leptochiton hylkiae
;
Dekker & Orlin 2000
, p. 7.
Type material.
Holotype
RMNH 9313, specimen 9.8 x
4.4 mm
.
Paratypes
in Strack and van der Sman collections.
Type
locality.
Egypt
,
Red Sea
, southern side of
Giftun Kebir Island
.
Material examined.
Egypt
(Hurghada: this study): St. 13: 2 valves (1 head and 1 intermediate),
Figs 3
A–G (
MZB
50524); St. 14: 2 valves (1 intermediate and 1 tail),
Figs 3
H–I (
BD
180;
MZB
50525). Maximum width: 4.5 / 4 /
3.1 mm
.
Description.
Head valve semicircular, tegmentum sculptured with numerous radiating chains of minute granules, concentrically crossed by several conspicuous growth lines.
Intermediate valves broadly rectangular, L/W = 0.38, highly elevated (H/W = 0.45), anterior profile rounded, front, sides and posterior margins almost straight, apex inconspicuous, lateral areas not raised, poorly defined, sculptured like head valve, central area with similar, longitudinally oriented rows (more than 70) of usually coalesced, minute granules, interstices very narrow.
Tail valve incomplete, mucro overhanging posterior edge, postmucronal slope very steep, straight, postmucronal area narrow, sculptured like head valve, antemucronal area like central areas.
Articulamentum with apophyses small.
Remarks.
Detailed descriptions of this species were given by
Strack (1993)
and
Kaas
et al
. (2006)
. Two species of
Parachiton
are living in the
Red Sea
,
P. hylkiae
(
Strack, 1993
)
and
P. jordanensis
(
Anseeuw & Terryn, 2004
)
. They are easily separated by the position of the mucro (terminal in
P. hylkiae
, often overhanging the posterior edge vs situated at about 4/5 of the total length in
P. jordanensis
), the number of longitudinal rows of granules in the antemucronal area of the tail valve (ca 85 vs 50) and in the central area of intermediate valves (ca 68–95 vs 45–50), and the number of radiating rows of granules in the lateral areas of intermediate valves (ca 20 vs 10–12).
The material at hand is scarce and consists of only four valves including an incomplete and partially eroded tail valve. All characters support the attribution to
Parachiton hylkiae
, including the terminal mucro (
Figs 3
H–I), the overhanging the posterior edge, the rounded profile of the intermediate valve (
Fig. 3G
), and the high number of longitudinal rows of granules, more than
70 in
the central area of intermediate valve (
Fig. 3D
). The number of longitudinal rows of granules in the antemucronal area of the tail valve cannot be counted accurately, but is high, tending towards that typical of
P. hylkiae
.
This is the first fossil record of this species.
Distribution.
Late Pleistocene:
Egypt
(Hurghada: this study). Present-day: Indian Ocean: Northern Red Sea (
Strack 1993
).