Fusinus rostratus Olivi 1792

Fusinus rostratus (Olivi, 1792)

Fig. 14 k–m

Murex rostratus Olivi, 1792 (p. 153).

Murex sanctaeluciae Salis Marschlins, 1793 (p. 371, pl. 7, fig. 6).

Fusus strigosus Lamarck, 1822 (p. 130).

Fusus carinatus Roemer, 1836 (p. 140, pl. 11, fig. 33).

Fusus rostratus Olivi—Hidalgo 1917 (p. 327).

Fusinus (Gracilipurpura) rostratus (Olivi) — Nordsieck 1968 (p. 147, pl. 24, fig. 83.30).

Fusinus rostratus (Olivi) — Bombace 1971 (p. 228, pl. 1, figs. 1–6; pl. 2, figs. 1–5); Menesini & Ughi 1983 (p. 238, pl. 2, fig. 7).

Fusinus (Fusinus) rostratus (Olivi), 1792 — Caprotti & Vescovi 1973 (p. 169, pl. 2, figs. 10–11).

Fusinus rostratus (Olivi, 1792) — Sabelli & Spada 1981 (p. 2, fig. 8); Bouchet & Warén 1985 (pp. 160, 161, 164, fig. 385); Poppe & Goto 1991 (p. 158, pl. 33, figs. 10–12); Barash & Danin 1992 (p. 143, fig. 164); Buzzurro & Russo 2007 (pp. 33, 137; pls. 1, 2a–b, 3a–e, 11–13, 14a–e; text-fig. 5).

Fusinus (Fusinus) rostratus (Olivi, 1792) — Cossignani et al. 1992 (fig. 143).

Fusinus sanctaeluciae (Von Salis, 1793) — Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. 2003 (pp. 184–188, figs. 373–381); Repetto et al. 2005 (p. 187, mid right fig.).

Diagnostic characters. Fusiform shell; convex whorls with weak angulation; moderately long and open siphonal canal; 9 stout commarginal ribs crossed by spiral cords per whorl, of variable strenght; peripheral cord stronger and forming projecting nodes at intersection with ribs. Protoconch: low conical, nearly dome-shaped; 1.8-1.9 whorls; diameter about 1100 µm; height about 880 µm; first 1.5 whorls spirally striated; subsequent 0.4 whorls smooth but for few axial riblets; transition to the teleoconch indistinct, marked by the appearance of spiral sculpture.

Remarks. Fusinus rostratus is distinguishable from the closely related F. bocagei (Fischer P., 1882) in having a paucispiral protoconch (Bouchet & Warén 1985). Fusinus rostratus has a number of junior synonyms e.g., F. sanctaeluciae (Salis Marschlins, 1793), F. strigosus (Lamarck, 1822) and F. carinatus (Roemer, 1836) (see Buzzurro & Russo 2007); this reflects a high intraspecific variability. The Santa Maria di Leuca specimens represent the Ionian typical morph, which is intermediate between the western Mediterranean-Adriatic acarinate form and the eastern Mediterranean carinate one; all forms are found together in the fossil record and probably derive from a common Pliocene carinate ancestor (Bombace 1971).

Occurrence. Box-corer samples BC66 (1 specimen), BC67 (1), BC72 (6); core BC51 (2). Maximum height: 29 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Fusinus rostratus is distributed across all the Mediterranean basin and is possibly endemic in it. However, this species has also been reported from the Canaries and the Lusitanian region (Hidalgo 1917; Nordsieck 1968; Barash & Danin 1992); it is the only Fusinus species that has been reported from bathyal depths (down to 823 m), where it is usually an element of bathyal mud and deep-water coral biocoenoses (Buzzurro & Russo 2007).

Fossil record. Miocene of France; Pliocene of Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Algeria; Pleistocene throughout the Mediterranean basin (Caprotti & Vescovi 1973; Malatesta 1974; Di Geronimo & La Perna 1997; Di Geronimo et al. 2005; Buzzurro & Russo 2007).