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
Callochiton vanninii
Ferreira, 1983
(
Fig. 5
)
Callochiton vanninii
Ferreira 1983
, p. 259
, figs 11–19;
Strack 1993
, p. 6, pl. 2, fig. 8;
Bosch
et al.
1995
, p. 189;
Kaas & Van Belle 1998
, p. 194;
Dekker & Orlin 2000
, p. 7;
Slieker 2000
, p. 46, pl. 11, fig. 5;
Schwabe 2003
, p. 23;
Anseeuw & Terryn 2004
, p. 6, fig. 37;
Dell’Angelo
et al
. 2004
, p. 51, pl. 2, figs 9–14;
Kaas
et al
. 2006
, p. 22, fig. 3, map 20;
Dinapoli & Janssen 2009
, p. 5, pl. 2a– d;
Dell’Angelo
et al
. 2010a
, p. 11;
Mohammadian 2011
, p. 211;
Dell’Angelo
et al
. 2012
, p. 156;
Blatterer 2019
, p. 49, pl. 1, fig. 3 a-m.
Non
Callochiton vanninii
;
Kaas & Van Belle 1985b
, p. 44, fig. 18; Kaas 1985, p. 327;
Kaas 1986
, p. 10, fig. 6 (=
Callochiton levatus
Kaas, Van Belle & Strack, 2006
).
FIGURE 5.
Callochiton vanninii
Ferreira, 1983
.
A–L.
Egypt, Hurghada (St. 13), Late Pleistocene (last interglacial MIS5e).
A– C.
MZB 50528a, head valve, width 2.3 mm, dorsal, ventral and lateral views.
D–F.
MZB 50528b, intermediate valve, width 2.3 mm, dorsal, ventral and frontal views.
G.
MZB 50528c, intermediate valve, width 3.4 mm, frontal view.
H–I.
MZB 50528d, tail valve, width 3.5 mm, dorsal and ventral views.
J–L.
MZB 50528e, tail valve, width 2.3 mm, dorsal, ventral and lateral views.
Type material.
Holotype
: MZUF 4098;
Paratype
: CAS
031758
.
Type
locality.
Gesira
,
Somalia
.
Material examined.
Saudi Arabia
, Gulf of Aqaba (Ash Shaykh Humayd: this study): St. 7: 1 tail valve (
MZB
50590); St. 9: 1 intermediate valve (
MZB
50591).
Egypt
, Hurghada: St. 12: 11 valves (1 head, 8 intermediate and 2 tail) (
BD
185); St. 13: 96 valves (12 head, 70 intermediate and 14 tail),
Figs 5
A–L (
BD
186;
MZB
50528;
RGM
.1356851).
Egypt
, Hamata: St. 18: 1 intermediate valve (
MZB
60271). Maximum width: 2.5 / 3.7 /
3.5 mm
.
Description.
Head valve semicircular, posterior margin widely V-shaped, front slope slightly convex.
Intermediate valves rectangular, front margin sinuous, weakly concave in wide central part, convex and somewhat slanting at pleurae, moderately elevated (H/W = 0.30–0.48), anterior profile rounded to subcarinated, side margins rounded, posterior margin slightly concave at both sides of bluntly protruding apex, lateral areas raised, clearly defined by diagonal depression.
Tail valve semicircular, L/W = 0.60–0.65, front margin straight in jugal part, mucro in anterior position, little elevated, forwardly directed, antemucronal and postmucronal slopes almost straight.
Tegmental surface minutely granulose and microscopically striated, longitudinally on central and antemucronal areas, radially on head valve, lateral and postmucronal areas, shell eyes not visible.
Articulamentum with apophyses very wide, short, slightly rounded, connected across narrow, shallow sinus by short jugal plate, insertion plates well developed, slit formula 15–20/2/17–21, slits deep, neatly cut, slit rays clearly visible, teeth sharp, somewhat roughened on upper side and outer edge, eaves narrow, porous.
Remarks.
A detailed description of this species was provided by
Kaas
et al.
(2006)
.
Callochiton vanninii
Ferreira, 1983
is very similar to
Callochiton levatus
Kaas, Van Belle & Strack, 2006
from
Madagascar
,
Réunion
,
Mauritius
and Chagos Archipelago, from which it can be distinguished mainly by the different shape of the tail valve (broadly oval with an extended, but not laterally protruding, articulamentum in
C. levatus
, semicircular with wide, but short, apophyses in
C. vanninii
), the different slit formula (12–14/1–2/
10–12 in
C. levatus
vs 16/2–3/
16 in
C. vanninii
) (
Strack 1993
;
Kaas
et al
. 2006
) and by differences in their radular teeth (
Schwabe 2003
).
Callochiton vanninii
is present at only three sites sampled, but only at one (St. 13) is it represented by a large number of valves. The valves are not well preserved, often eroded, and usually incomplete, especially the intermediate ones.
The intermediate valves show a variability in the dorsal elevation, the H/W ratio ranges from 0.30 to 0.48, with the anterior profile subcarinate in the valves with lower values of H/W ratio (
Figs 5
D–F, H/W = 0.30), tending to be rounded in the apex with the growth of this ratio (
Fig. 5G, H
/W = 0.48). Also the tail valves show a certain variability in shape (L/W ratio).
The number of slits of head and tail valves is higher than that reported for this species (
Kaas
et al
. 2006: 15–16
for both valves), 20 and 21, respectively. We illustrate two tail valves, with 18 slits (
Figs 5
H–I, L/W = 0.60) and 21 slits (
Figs 5
J–L, L/W = 0.65), respectively.
Despite the differences highlighted in the number of slits, we provisionally attribute the studied material to
Callochiton vanninii
, pending better preserved material to further characterise the fossil species.
This is the first report of this species as a fossil.
Distribution.
Late Pleistocene:
Saudi Arabia
, Gulf of Aqaba (Ash Shaykh Humayd);
Egypt
(Hurghada, Hamata: this study). Present-day: Indian Ocean: Red Sea,
Somalia
,
Madagascar
, Arabian Gulf (
Bahrein
),
Socotra Island
(
Dinapoli & Janssen 2009
;
Blatterer 2019
).