Annulipulsellum aenigmaticum, Scarabino & Scarabino, 2010

Scarabino, Victor & Scarabino, Fabrizio, 2010, A new genus and thirteen new species of Scaphopoda (Mollusca) from the tropical Pacific Ocean, Zoosystema 32 (3), pp. 409-423 : 419

Annulipulsellum aenigmaticum n. sp. ( Fig. 4 F-H)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Solomon Islands. SALOMON 2, stn CP 2189, 08°20’S, 160°02’E, 660-854 m, 1 dd holotype ( MNHN 22796 ) ; 3 dd paratypes ( MNHN 22797 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Solomon Islands, 08°20’S, 160°02’E, 660-854 m (SALOMON 2, stn CP 2189).

ETYMOLOGY. — From the Latin aenigmaticus meaning “mysterious”.

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Solomon Islands. SALOMON 2, stn CP 2182, 08°47’S, 157°38’E, 762- 1060 m, 2 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — Solomon Islands. Shells in 762- 854 m.

DESCRIPTION

Shell 5.7 mm long, solid, well curved. Surface entirely sculptured by transverse encircling wrinkles crossed by 60 longitudinal striae. Section circular, apex simple, preapical callus thick, lumen circular and central.

Measurements of holotype: L 5.7, W 0.7, w 0.3, arc 0.4 at 2.7 from apex.

REMARKS

The characteristic transversely wrinkled surface allies this species to Annulipulsellum Scarabino, 1986 , a monotypic genus known from abyssal depths from the Atlantic Ocean, although the sectional outline of the wrinkles differs. However, the presence of longitudinal sculpture in the new species clearly distinguishes it from A. euskadii Scarabino, 1986 , which only has the transverse sculpture, although the thick apical callus and lumen is also similar (see Scarabino 1986). Nevertheless, no other scaphopod reported in the literature or noted in the field by us, worldwide, has similar sculpture; we refer the present species to Annulipulsellum , pending the discovery of other related species that might permit modification of the generic diagnosis or creation of a new genus.