Cerithiopsis Forbes & Hanley 1850

Cerithiopsis (?) caelatum (Gould, 1849)

Fig. 2K

Cerithium caelatum Gould, 1849: 120; Gould, 1856, pl. 10, figs. 174, 174a–d

Cerithiopsis caelatum — Tryon, 1887: 172, pl. 36, fig. 47

Examined material. 2 an. and 131 sh. (MACN-In 40677).

Description. Shell height to 15 mm (up to 19 mm according to Gould 1849); turritelliform, solid. Protoconch small, of 3.75 convex whorls, the last sculptured with closely arranged axial threads and faint spiral threads at the interspaces of the former. Teleoconch of up to 11 whorls, almost straight in outline; last whorl comprising about 40% of total shell height. Suture impressed. Surface brownish, clearest at the base and the sutures; sculptured with 16 to 22 strong axial ribs and 3 spiral cords per whorl, which produce large beads at their intersections. An additional, lower, smooth cord appears at the suture and delimits the base, where 1 or 2 narrower cords are present. Aperture subquadrate, interior brownish; outer lip undulated by the spiral sculpture; columellar callus white, narrow; siphonal canal short, markedly oblique, moderately wide.

Remarks. The material here examined clearly corresponds to the specimens figured by Gould (1856) as Cerithium caelatum. The species was frequently previously regarded as a synonym of Eumetula pulla (Philippi, 1845a) (e.g., Strebel 1905b; Powell 1951; Castellanos 1990), a species poorly known at present, and for which the type was never figured.