Profundiconus virginiae Tenorio & Castelin 2016, sp. nov.

Profundiconus virginiae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1785F28A-89FA-40FC-B28A-68E828B3F0A9

Figs 9A–D, G, 10

Profundiconus n. sp. h – Puillandre et al. 2014: Supplementary Material 1 (unfigured).

Profundiconus cf. cakobaui – Tenorio 2015a: 37 (unfigured; non Conus cakobaui Moolenbeek, Röckel & Bouchet, 2008).

Etymology

This species is dedicated to Virginie Héros, assistant curator of molluscs at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris (MNHN) and an experienced member of the numerous collecting expeditions carried out by this institution. Her contribution to our knowledge of the New Caledonian deep-water cones is recognised by naming this remarkable new species of Profundiconus after her.

Material examined

Holotype NEW CALEDONIA: 42.5 × 19.4 mm, R/V Alis, EBISCO Expedition, st. DW 2613, Plateau des Chesterfield, 19°37' S, 158°42' E, 519–522 m (MNHN IM-2007-30854; Fig. 9A; GenBank accession number (cox1 sequence): KJ550158).

Paratypes NEW CALEDONIA: 33.3 × 16.5 mm, R/V Alis, EBISCO Expedition, type locality, 431–436 m (MNHN IM-2007-30858; paratype 1; Fig. 9B; GenBank accession number (cox1 sequence): KJ550159); 16.3 × 13.0 mm, R/V Alis, EBISCO Expedition, st. DW 2610, Plateau des Chesterfield, 19°34' S, 158°41' E, 486–494 m (MNHN IM-2000-30789; paratype 2; Fig. 9D; fragment of the spire, well preserved).

Type locality

NEW CALEDONIA: Coral Sea, Plateau des Chesterfield, 19°37' S, 158°42' E, 519–522 m (EBISCO st. DW 2613).

Description

Morphometric parameters: S L = 33–43 mm; RD = 0.59–0.63; RSH = 0.21–0.23; PMD = 0.82–0.83.

Shell moderately small to medium sized. Maximum length 42.5 mm. Shell profile ventricosely conical, with spire moderate to high. Spire profile sigmoid. Multispiral protoconch with 3–3.5 whorls, white, glossy and translucent (Fig. 9C). Early 4–5 teleoconch whorls stepped, ridged with small nodules which tend to disappear after fifth whorl. Sutural ramp flat to slightly concave, with 3 to 6 fine spiral cords becoming obsolete in late spire whorls. Shoulder subangulate, forming characteristic ridge, covered with axial costae on last whorl. Early teleoconch whorls creamy white with brown spiral band on periphery, extending over row of nodules. On later whorls, this brown band interrupted by white areas. Spire creamy white with sparse, small brown blotches in areas near suture. Last whorl smooth or with very fine striae and with spiral ribs on basal third. Ground colour creamy white overlaid with orange-brown to purplish brown, irregular blotches or axially arranged flammules, interrupted by ground-colour band at midbody. Columella white. Aperture creamy white. Anal notch shallow. Periostracum and operculum not observed.

Radular teeth examined in holotype (Fig. 9G) and in paratype 1. 48 to 53 teeth in radular sac. Radular tooth medium to large-sized, its total length relative to shell length S L /T L = 37–45, rather elongated. Waist poorly defined. Anterior portion shorter than posterior section of tooth (T L/AP L = 2.61–2.70). With one barb and pointed, well-defined blade which covers 40–43% of anterior portion of tooth. With external cusp located at approximately lower third of anterior portion of tooth, extending between 60% and 81% of length of anterior portion of tooth. External cusp laterally expanded and serrated, with 5–6 small denticles. With characteristic fringe of closely spaced projections pointing towards apex located immediately below waist. Shaft fold present. Large and prominent basal spur on top of slanted base of tooth.

Distribution and habitat

Only known from the Coral Sea, Plateau des Chesterfield area, New Caledonia (Fig. 10).

Remarks

Profundiconus virginiae sp. nov. was initially misidentified as P. smirnoides (Fig. 1D). The latter has a fusiform shell, larger in size (S L = 52–98 mm; versus 33–43 mm), more slender (RD = 0.46–0.56; versus 0.59–0.63) and with a higher spire (RSH = 0.25–0.36; versus 0.21–0.23) than P. virginiae sp. nov. The shell of P. smirnoides has a pattern consisting of a brown spiral band on each side of centre, interrupted by creamy white axial streaks, but lacks the axial costae on the ridge. The radular teeth of P. virginiae sp. nov. and P. smirnoides also differ. The latter has a very elongated radular tooth (Fig. 9H), with the anterior and posterior sections difficult to separate (Tenorio 2015b). Still, the anterior section of the tooth in adult P. smirnoides is longer than the posterior section (T L/AP L = 1.7–1.8). The strongly pointed blade covers less than 25% of the anterior section. The external cusp is pointed, not expanded laterally and is not serrated, in contrast to P. virginiae sp. nov. Interestingly, in P. smirnoides the external cusp occupies a very high position in the anterior section, extending from 20 to 30% of its length (i.e., almost the same position as the blade, but with a different orientation).

P. virginiae sp. nov. resembles no other species of Profundiconus. Although only two live-taken specimens and the spire of a broken shell of this species have been examined, their shell and radula features, as well as the phylogenetic analysis, warrant its description as a new species. Apart from P. smirnoides, P. virginiae sp. nov. can be compared to P. vaubani from New Caledonia (Fig. 1I), and to P. cakobaui from the Fiji Islands (Fig. 1K) and P. cf. cakobaui (Fig. 9E) from the Philippines. P. vaubani also has axial costae and brown elements on the shell pattern. However, its paucispiral protoconch readily separates this species from P. virginiae sp. nov., which has a multispiral protoconch and appears rather distant from P. vaubani on the tree shown in Fig. 5. P. cakobaui and P. cf. cakobaui exhibit a shell pattern similar to that of P. virginiae sp. nov., including the brown spiral band on the periphery of the early teleoconch whorls extending over the row of nodules. However, both have a paucispiral protoconch instead of multispiral, and both lack the characteristic axial costae present in P. virginiae sp. nov. at the shoulder ridge. The elusive species P. frausseni (Tenorio & Poppe, 2004) (Fig. 9F), known only from a few specimens collected in the Philippines, has a protoconch and early teleoconch resembling that of P. virginiae sp. nov. However, the multispiral protoconch is white in P. virginiae sp. nov., but cream-coloured in P. frausseni (Tenorio & Poppe 2004). The latter is lower spired (RSH = 0.19–0.21; versus 0.21–0.23) and more conical (PMD = 0.87–0.89; versus 0.82–0.83) than P. virginiae sp. nov. Cords on the teleoconch whorls of P. frausseni are more developed, whereas they become obsolete on the late whorls in P. virginiae sp. nov. The shoulder in P. frausseni is rounded (subangulate in juvenile specimens), whereas in P. virginiae sp. nov. it is subangulate and ridged, covered with axial costae which are absent in P. frausseni. The scarce number of specimens of P. virginiae sp. nov. available prevented any statistical comparison of shell morphometry among different taxa. The two individuals of P. virginiae sp. nov. form a monophyletic group in the phylogeny that is the sister group of P. zardoyai, P. vaubani, P. loyaltiensis and P. kanakinus.