Nassarius lima (Dillwyn, 1817)

Fig. 14 d–g

Buccinum lima Dillwyn, 1817 (p. 636).

Buccinum scalariforme Kiener, 1834 (p. 79, pl. 21, fig. 80).

Buccinum limatum Philippi, 1836 (p. 220).

? Hinia (Uzita) prismatica (Brocchi) — Di Geronimo & Panetta 1973 (p. 81).

Nassarius limatus (Deshayes in Lamarck, 1844) — Adam & Glibert 1976 (p. 36, pl. 2, fig. 3; pl. 5, figs. 6–8; pl. 6, fig. 1; textfigs. 1–2); Poppe & Goto 1991 (p. 155, pl. 32, fig. 6).

? Hinia prismatica (Brocchi, 1814) — Sabelli & Spada 1979 (p. 2, fig. 6).

Nassarius (Uzita) lima (Dillwyn, 1817) — Cossignani et al. 1992 (fig. 150); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. 2003 (p. 218, figs. 465– 469).

Nassarius lima (Dillwyn, 1817) — Repetto et al. 2005 (p. 192, top right fig.). Nassarius lima (Dillwyn) —Rosso et al. 2010 (fig. 10 D).

Diagnostic characters. Elongate ovate shell; rounded and narrowly shouldered whorls; leaf-shaped aperture; outer lip bearing a broad low varix and 10 internal lirae; short and wide siphonal canal; 13 to 16 nearly straight collabral ribs; densely packed superimposed spiral cords, more evident in the interspaces. Protoconch: low conical; slightly less than 2.5 whorls; diameter about 1100 µm (first whorl: about 320 µm); height about 490 µm; first 1.8 whorls smooth; subsequent whorls with densely set commarginal rugae; transition to the teleoconch indistinct, marked by the appearance of axial ribs.

Remarks. Nassarius scalariformis (Kiener, 1834) and Nassarius limatus (Philippi, 1836) (the latter also cited as being introduced by Deshayes in 1844) are currently regarded as junior synonyms of the present taxon (see Cernohorsky 1984). It is not clear whether N. prysmaticus (Brocchi, 1814) could represent a senior synonym of N. lima, since the only reliable difference seems to be the shape of the protoconch (cf. Adam & Glibert 1976, p. 53).

Occurrence. Box-corer samples BC67 (13 specimens), BC70 (6), BC71 (6), BC72 (129); cores BC04 (1), BC05 (1), BC21 (4), BC51 (5), BC67 (3), BC72 (9). Maximum height: 13 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Nassarius lima is distributed in the Mediterranean basin and adjacent Atlantic waters (from Bay of Biscay to the Canaries), although some authors consider it endemic to the Mediterranean. It is a bathyal species dwelling on mud (Adam & Glibert 1976; Poppe & Goto 1991). It is often found associated with deep water corals e.g., Corallium rubrum in Sardinian waters (Crocetta & Spanu 2008) and Madrepora oculata in the Santa Maria di Leuca CWC biotope (Mastrototaro et al. 2010). In this latter area, it was ascribed as common in the coral rubble, solitary coral and Gryphus-Isidella thanatofacies (Rosso et al. 2010).

Fossil record. Pliocene of France and Italy; Pleistocene of Italy; Holocene of the Mediterranean Sea (Adam & Glibert 1976; Menesini & Ughi 1983; Di Geronimo & La Perna 1997; Di Geronimo et al. 2005).