Antalis agilis (Sars M. in Sars G.O., 1872)

Fig. 11 a–c

Dentalium agile Sars M. in Sars G.O, 1872 (p. 31, pl. 3, figs. 4–15).

Dentalium agile M. Sars—Jeffreys 1883 [a] (p. 658).

Dentalium agile Sars—Hidalgo 1917 (p. 280).

Dentalium (Antalis) agile Sars—Di Geronimo 1974 (p. 152, pl. 2, fig. 5). Dentalium (Antalis) agile Sars—Di Geronimo 1975 (p. 130).

Dentalium (Antalis) agile M. Sars, 1872 — Caprotti 1979 (p. 226, pl. 8, figs. 4–5). Dentalium agile Sars, 1872 — Poppe & Goto 1993 (p. 33, pl. 1, fig. 1). Graptacme agilis (Sars M. in Sars G.O.) — Di Geronimo et al. 1997 (pl. 2, fig. 17). Graptacme agilis (M. Sars in G.O. Sars) — Di Geronimo et al. 2001 (pl. 1, fig. 15). Antalis agilis (Sars M. in Sars G.O., 1872) — Repetto et al. 2005 (p. 357, top left fig.). Dentalium agile Sars M. in Sars G.O, 1872 — Beck et al. 2006 (p. 112, top fig.). Antalis agilis Sars M., 1872 —Mastrototaro et al. 2010 (fig. 5 m).

Diagnostic characters. Solid, moderately curved shell; circular apertures; anal aperture with a V-shaped lateral notch; fine longitudinal riblets increasing in number during growth and often vanishing on older stages. Larval shell: not available.

Occurrence. Box-corer samples BC04 (9 specimens), BC05 (2), BC06 (2), BC67 (7), BC70 (5), BC71 (2), BC72 (37); cores BC04 (12), BC05 (13), BC21 (6), BC51 (25), BC52 (1), BC67 (4), BC72 (7). Maximum length: 27 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Antalis agilis is distributed from Norway to the Azores and the Mediterranean, dwelling in mud in the 55–4789 m depth interval (Buhl-Mortensen & Høisaeter 1993; Poppe & Goto 1993; Pons- Moyà & Pons 1999). It was regarded as an exclusive characteristic element of VP (bathyal mud) biocoenosis (Pérès & Picard 1964; Di Geronimo 1979[a]; Di Geronimo & Bellagamba 1985). In the Santa Maria di Leuca CWC biotope, it was found on muddy bottoms around coral colonies (Mastrototaro et al. 2010), being common in Gryphus-Isidella and mollusk mud thanatofacies (Rosso et al. 2010).

Fossil record. The species seems to appear in the Mediterranean in Middle-Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian), becoming dominant in Pleistocene bathyal deposits (Caprotti 1979; Di Geronimo & Bellagamba 1985; Di Geronimo et al. 1997; Di Geronimo & La Perna 1997; Di Geronimo et al. 2005; Tabanelli 2008).