Poirieria (Actinotrophon) tenuis Houart, 2001

Houart, Roland & Héros, Virginie, 2008, Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Fiji and Tonga, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 437-480 : 450

Poirieria (Actinotrophon) tenuis Houart, 2001

Fig. 2G

Poirieria (Actinotrophon) tenuis Houart, 2001: 255 , figs 20, 22-23.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fiji. BORDAU 1: stn DW 1410, 19°01’S, 178°26’W, 395-540 m, 1 dd juv; stn DW 1488, 19°01’S, 16°06’S, 179°28’W, 400-410 m, 1 lv (Fig. 2G); stn DW 1432, 178°25’W, 500-516 m, 1 lv, 4 dd . — MUSORSTOM 10: stn CP 17°20’S, 178°44’W, 477-493 m, 1 dd juv; stn DW 1486, 1331, 17°02’S, 178°02’E, 694-703 m, 1 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — SW Pacific, Waterwitch Bank (12°30’S, 176°41’W), Vanuatu and now Fiji, live in 410-500 m.

REMARKS. — It is interesting to note the occurrence of both Pacific species of Poirieria , P. tenuis and P. fragilis , at station BORDAU 1 DW 1410. Examination of this new material supports their separation, proposed previously ( Houart 2001: 256), on the basis of the broader siphonal canal relative to the shell height, and the broader, shorter and more broadly open, less acute, more backwardly recurved and more adapically bent carinal spine of P. tenuis . Moreover, on the last teleoconch whorl of P. tenuis , the preceding axial lamellae almost entirely cover the succeeding spine on the sutural ramp, while the lamellae of P. fragilis are narrower and less expanded.