The Genus Pustulatirus Vermeij and Snyder, 2006 (Gastropoda: Fasciolariidae: Peristerniinae) in the Western Atlantic, with Descriptions of Three New Species
Author
Lyons And Martin Avery Snyder, William G.
text
Zootaxa
2013
3636
1
35
58
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.283572
61a9ddf5-0a97-4757-8217-e72d41a770a7
1175-5326
283572
C2B24CC9-EE3D-43DC-AB13-22B7346C93DA
Pustulatirus biocellatus
new species
(
Figures 46–51
)
Latirus virginensis
Abbott, 1958
—Bullock, 1968: 72, 73, 99, 101, pl. 4, fig. 1. Matthews, 1968: 248.
Non
Latirus virginensis
Abbott, 1958
, Recent, eastern Caribbean.
Latirus (Polygona) virginensis
Abbott, 1958
—Rios, 1970: 96 (
pars
). Rios, 1975: 104 (
pars
), pl. 29, fig. 440; Rios, 1985: 107 (
pars
), pl. 36, fig. 471; Rios, 1994: 133 (
pars
), pl. 42, fig. 575; Rios, 2009: 253 (
pars
), figs.
Non
Latirus (Polygona) virginensis
Abbott, 1958
, Recent, eastern Caribbean.
Latirus eppi
Melvill, 1891
—Mallard and Robin, 2005: pl. 43, figs. (
pars
; 17-mm shell from
Brazil
only).
Non
Latirus eppi
Melvill, 1891
, Recent,
Curaçao
.
Pustulatirus eppi
(Melvill, 1891)
—Vermeij and Snyder, 2006: 421, fig. 4C,
pars
.
Non
Pustulatirus eppi
(Melvill, 1891)
, Recent,
Curaçao
.
Description:
Shell small for genus (largest 30.0 x
13.8 mm
), solid, broadly fusiform. Protoconch of about 2 rounded whorls; first whorl smooth, second with 2 or 3 broad axial riblets on last quarter whorl; riblets increasing in strength toward junction with teleoconch. Teleoconch of as many as 7 whorls bearing prominent broad, wellrounded axial ribs crossed by low, smooth spiral cords; cords diminishing in strength abapically, causing shell surface to appear smooth; whorls 1 and 2 each with 7 or 8 ribs, subsequent whorls each with 6 or 7 ribs; about 3 evenly spaced cords on whorls 1 and 2, joined by 2 or 3 more broad, low cords on sutural ramp of whorl 3, number of cords increasing to about 14 on body whorl of largest shell; most body whorl cords very low and indistinct, presence of some indicated only by color changes atop ribs; 3 to 5 stronger, oblique cords atop siphonal process, sometimes with 1 to 3 faint spiral threads between. Aperture ovo-elongate, constricted adapically by callosity on parietal shield and abapically by prominent node at junction with siphonal canal; outer lip arcuate, serrate on mature shells, particularly on abapical edge in response to termini of extensions between spiral cords of body whorl and outer edge of siphon, inner side with 7 to 11 (usually 8 or 9) well-spaced, strongly beaded lirae, most evident on fully developed lip; inner lip and parietal shield adherent; columella straight, with 4 distinct plicae adapical to entrance fold of short, straight siphonal canal. Shell exterior reddish brown, with creamy white node-like ribs, light-colored ribs of body whorl crossed by narrow brown band, producing two distinctive spots on each rib; some mature shells uncommonly with ribs of body whorl tan, not white, rendering “biocellate” effect less evident; interior of shell white except for brown band at edge of outer lip. Operculum corneous, narrow, with anterior terminal nucleus, outer surface covered with many indistinct, concentric, arcuate growth increments. Radula unknown.
Type
Material: Northeastern
Brazil
—
Holotype
30.0 x
13.8 mm
(
Figures 46–48
), dd, off
Natal
, Estado Rio Grande do Norte,
Brazil
, depth
10–15 m
, MZUSP 108767.
Paratypes
: 1, 24.0 mm (
Figure 51
), dd, off Camocim, Estado Ceará,
15–25 m
, diver, 2007, ANSP 422778; 1,
26.4 mm
, dd, off Camocim,
20-25 m
, in octopus pot, LC; 1,
22.1mm
, dd, same data, LC; 1,
27.2 mm
, dd, off Camocim,
20-25 m
, SC; 1,
25.3 mm
, dd in octopus pot, off Camocim,
20–35 m
, BMSM 17941; 1,
21.2 mm
, dd in octopus pot, off Camocim,
20–35 m
, NHMUK 20120248; 1,
22.9 mm
, dd, off Camocim,
25-30 m
, USNM 1192973; 1,
28.3 mm
, crabbed in octopus pot, dd, off Camocim,
25- 35 m
, LC; 1,
27.7 mm
, dd
ex pisce
, off Fortaleza, Estado Ceará,
16 m
, 7/1968, ANSP 449751; 1,
25.8 mm
, dd
ex pisce
, off Fortaleza, 12 fm (
22 m
), AMNH
140147
; 1,
23.5 mm
, dd, off Rio do Fogo, north of
Natal
, Rio Grande do Norte,
15–25 m
, sand under rock, 2008, ANSP 422777; 2, 16.0 and
20.6 mm
, dd, off Rio do Fogo, north of
Natal
,
15-25 m
, UF 455470; 1,
23.7 mm
, dd, north of
Natal
, Rio Grande do Norte,
10–15 m
, MNHN 25671; 1,
15.6 mm
, dd, north of
Natal
,
10-15 m
, sand under rock, diver, 1999, ANSP 449750; 1,
11.1 mm
, dd, north of
Natal
,
10-15 m
, sand under rock, 2000, ANSP 449749; 7, 18.1, 17.1, 17.0, 16.8, 15.7, 12.2 and
10.4 mm
, lv, north of
Natal
,
10–15 m
, sand under rock, 2007, ANSP 421133; 1,
22.1 mm
, dd, north of
Natal
,
10–15 m
, SC; 1, 18.0 mm, lv, north of
Natal
,
25 m
, 11/2003, ANSP 449746; 1,
15.8 mm
, lv, Rio Grande do Norte, reef,
10-20 m
, UF 455467; 1, 17.0 mm, lv, Rio Grande do Norte,
10-20 m
, ANSP 449747; 1,
26.7 mm
, dd, off Alcobaça, Estado Bahía,
20-25 m
, LC; 2, 26.5 (
Figures 49–50
) and
21.7 mm
, dd, off Alcobaça, Bahía,
Brazil
,
40-45 m
, ANSP 449745.
Other Material
:
Northeastern
Brazil
—23, 15.4, 15.3, 14.3, 14.8, 14.3, 13.8, 13.7, 13.6, 13.5, 13.2, 13.2, 13.0, 12.8, 12.6, 12.5, 12.5, 12.3, 12.0, 11.9, 11.7, 11.1, 10.0 and
8.6 mm
, dd, north of
Natal
,
10-15 m
, sand under rock, 2004, ANSP 449753; 2, dd, 17.3 and 17.0 mm, north of
Natal
, Rio Grande do Norte,
10–15 m
, LC; 1 lv,
16.8 mm
, 13 dd,
10.2-21.1 mm
, north of
Natal
,
10–15 m
; 7 lv,
13.3-15.6 mm
, Rio Grande do Norte,
10-20 m
, LC; 2, 13.6 and
15.5 mm
, lv, Rio Grande do Norte,
25 m
LC.
Venezuela
?
(records considered spurious)—1,
16.1 mm
, lv, Los Roques Islands,
Venezuela
,
6 m
, LC; 1,
10.2 mm
, dd, off Los Roques Islands, dredged,
200 m
, 2006, ANSP 449752.
Type
Locality
: Off
Natal
, Estado Rio Grande do Norte,
Brazil
,
10–
15 m
.
Etymology
: The species name, an adjective, is composed of the prefix
bi-
, meaning two, the Latin noun
ocellus
, meaning little eye, and the suffix -
atus
, -
a
, -
um
, meaning “provided with,” referring to the pattern of paired spots on the body whorl.
Distribution
: Off Camocim, Ceará southward to Alcobaça, Bahía,
Brazil
; depth range
10–
45 m
.
Remarks
:
Pustulatirus biocellatus
seems relatively common in moderate depths (
10–45 m
) on the inner continental shelf off of the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, and Bahía in northeastern
Brazil
. We examined two shells labeled “off Los Roques,
Venezuela
,” depths
6 m
and
200 m
, but we consider those data suspect and requiring confirmation.
This species was reported and figured as
P. e p p i
(Melvill, 1891) by Vermeij and Snyder (2006), and Brazilian shells have been offered for sale as “
Latirus
”
eppi
, or sometimes as
L.
cf.
L. eppi
, for more than a decade. Between
1968 and 1994
, records of the species were mistakenly reported as
L. virginensis
Abbott, 1958
(see synonymy). Recently, Rios (2009) reported and figured Brazilian specimens as
L. (Polygona) virginensis
, and then cited
L. eppi
as a junior synonym. However, we have found no valid record of the occurrence of either of those Caribbean species in
Brazil
, and we reject that synonymy.
The pattern of spots on the body whorl immediately distinguishes
P. biocellatus
from
P. eppi
and
P. virginensis
. Although their shells are similar in size,
P. biocellatus
has more rounded whorls, deeper sutures, and more conspicuous spiral cords than
P. e p p i
. Shells of
P. virginensis
are larger and more attenuate than
P. biocellatus
, with longer, narrower ribs and a relatively longer and more slender siphonal process.