Beringius frausseni Mclean & Clark 2023, n. sp.

Beringius frausseni n. sp.

Figure 11 E–I urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 606C778D-058A-4213-ADBA-3F9B1B5E147A

Type locality: Shumushu Island (Okhotsk Sea, side), Kurile Is., Russia (50°44 N, 156°19 E), 118–120 m.

Type material. Holotype ZIN 62061, 136.0 mm; Paratypes: Pt 1, RBCM 979-01070, 124.2 mm. Russia, Kamchatka, Kronotskiy Cape (54°43 N, 162°11 E), 280 m; Pt 2, RNC 4915, 109.7 mm. “Aleutian Islands” (Stalemate Bank?), 140 m. (ex. Koen Fraussen).

Description: Shell large (height to 136 mm, holotype), pyriform, white, slender to moderately inflated; periostracum thin, adherent, light brown. Protoconch with 2.5 whorls; teleconch with four whorls; whorls rounded to slightly shouldered, suture moderately impressed.Axial ribs (when present) low, rounded, 12–13 on penultimate whorl, interspaces as broad as ribs. Spiral sculpture of low, broad, rounded cords, 14–18 above the suture; base of final whorl with about 15 similar cords, spaced somewhat further apart. Aperture large, less than half of shell height, canal short, broad.

Radula. Rachidian tooth sub-ovate, strongly excavated anteriorly (almost chevron- shaped); Lateral teeth large, about 400 µm long, tri-cuspid, outer cusp large, strongly curved, pointed; inner cusp very small, less than 1/5 as long as outer cusp, inner cusp about 3 times as long as inner cusp, thick, strongly curved.

Remarks: The low, broad spiral cords separate this species from all others in the Aleutians. Kantor & Sysoev, 2006 illustrate the holotype of this species as “ Beringius marshalli ”. True Beringius marshalli Dall, 1919 is a slender form of Beringius behringi (Middendorff, 1848), with weak to absent axial folds, and a few faint, irregular spiral cords.

Etymology: The name honors Koen Fraussen, Aarschot, Belgium, for his work on the Buccinidae, and for providing a paratype.

Distribution: Southern Kamchatka, Kronotskiy Cape and northern most Kurile Islands, Shumushu Island, east to Stalemate Bank, west of Attu Island, Aleutian Islands (?) (50° to 54° N, 156°20 to 171°15 E), 118– 280 m. This is a western Pacific species.

Habitat: Sand and silt.