Inquisitor plurivaricis, Li & Kilburn & Li, 2010

Li, Bao Quan, Kilburn, Richard N. & Li, Xin Zheng, 2010, Report on Crassispirinae Morrison, 1966 (Mollusca: Neogastropoda: Turridae) from the China Seas, Journal of Natural History 44 (11 - 12), pp. 699-740 : 723-724

Inquisitor plurivaricis sp. nov.

( Figure 1F, G )

Type material

Holotype. ECS. One specimen, CN 553 B-35, 28°30′ N, 127°30′ E, fine sand, 114 m, AT, 20 September 1976.

Paratypes. SCS. One specimen , CN K78 B-57, 22°00′ N, 113°30′ E, silty mud, 7 m, BT, 18 October 1959 ; 1 spm, CN L65 B-74, 19°15′ N, 111°00′ E, sandy mud, 78 m, AT, 25 April 1959 ; 1 spm, CN 1 Y97B-18, 20°15′ N, 111°00′ E, sandy mud, 73 m, AT, 29 October 1959 ; 4 spms, CN S219 B-51, 20°15′ N, 111°15′ E, muddy sand, 115 m, AT, 13 April 1960 ; 1 spm, CN Q84 B-43, 17°45′ N, 109°30′ E, muddy sand, 87 m, AT, 21 November 1959 ; 1 spm, CN N74 B-16, 19°00′ N, 111°30′ E, fine sandy mud, 160 m, AT, 16 July 1959 ; 1 spm, 20°00′ N, 112°30′ E, muddy sand, 108 m; 1 spm, CN SIII19 B-61, 21°30′ N, 115°30′ E, sandy mud, 115 m, AT, 14 July 1959 ; 1 spm, CN L6873-150 , 19°45′ N, 111°15′ E, muddy sand, 78 m, AT, 25 April 1959 ; 1 spm, CN 17–19 , 17°30′ N, 109°30′ E, sandy mud, 110 m, AT, 29 January 1959 ; 1 spm, CN N150 B-7, 17°30′ N, 109°30′ E, sandy mud, 111 m, AT, 11 March 1960 ; 1 spm, CN 172 B-9, 19°00′ N, 111°30′ E, sandy silt, 162 m, AT, 7 April 1960 ; 1 spm, CN 162 N- 41, 20°00′ N, 113°00′ E, muddy sand, 125 m, At, 8 September 1960 ; 1 spm, CN N120 B-35, 19°15′ N, 111°00′ E, muddy sand, 80 m, AT, 10 February 1960 .

Nansha Islands. One specimen, CN SSB2-5 , 8°30′ N, 109°00′ E, 143 m, 17 September 1994 ; 2 spms, CN SSB2-6 , 8°30′ N, 109°00′ E, 143 m, 17 September 1994 .

Measurements

See Table 1.

Description

Shell medium to large (up to 41.5 mm in length), elongated fusiform, heavy. Spire high, 0.57–0.60 of total length; whorls convex, particularly body whorl, with a slight, rounded shoulder below sulcus, which is shallow; suture bordered by a slight cord. Suture narrow, distinct, slightly undulated. Teleoconch of 14 whorls. Sculpture of narrow, strong axial ribs, 15 on penultimate whorl, 13 on body whorl, which extend to about mid-columella level; ribs weakly opisthocline, tending to line up on adjacent whorls. Varices two to three per whorl, situated about one-third of last whorl behind lip. Numerous thin and crisp, wavy spiral ridges overriding axial ribs, five on penultimate whorl, 12 on body whorl, but absent on shoulder ramp; subsutural cord weak. Spiral striae absent. Dense growth lines. Aperture narrowly elliptical, subrectangular, gradually tapering to siphonal canal. Outer lip thin, edge weakly crenulated, stromboid notch evenly concave. Anal sinus deeply V-shaped with rounded apex, expanding at edge, its apex on lower side of shoulder ramp. Columella straight, callus narrow, forming a narrow false umbilicus, parietal callus thin. Siphonal canal relatively long, deep, narrow, recurved; anterior tip shallowly notched.

Protoconch high, three whorls, the first two smooth, the last one present with sparse axial ribs; breadth 1.13–1.42 mm.

Ground colour yellowish-brown, early whorls darker, interior of aperture and axial ribs off-white, with darker brown maculations next to varices.

Distribution

ECS and SCS, Nansha Islands.

Etymology

Latin compound noun, plurivaricis meaning several (plures) + varicoid (varicis), referring to the two or three varices on the shell surface.

Remarks

This species is somewhat similar to Inquisitor aesopus ( Schepman, 1913) in shell profile, but differs in its more convex whorls, slightly stronger axial ribs which terminate in a weak, not angular shoulder below the subsutural convexity, and the presence of two to three varices on each whorl instead of only one varix on the back of the last whorl as in I. aesopus ; the end of the siphonal canal in I. aesopus is notched, unlike I. plurivaricis . Inquisitor plurivaricis is also comparable with I. rufovaricosa (Kuroda and Oyama, in Kuroda et al., (1971), from Japan and southern China (recorded by Chang and Wu 2000, from Taiwan); the latter species differs from I. plurivaricis in its long, recurved siphonal canal, stronger subsutural cord, more numerous axial ribs, reddish-brown base and elongate, dark reddish-brown blotches adjacent to the varices.

Figures

Figure 1. Species of subfamily Crassispirinae. (A) Aguilaria subochracea (SCS, CN 54–779); (B) lectotype (Taylor and Wells, 1994, as “Holotype”) of Pleurotoma (Drillia) subochracea, BMNH 1988065, China Seas (probably); 38.8 × 12.3 mm; (C, D) Inquisitor incerta (SCS, CN 54–671); (E) syntype of Pleurotoma (Drillia) incerta, BMNH 1854.4.10.59, New Guinea; 25.0 × 7.9 mm; (F, G) Inquisitor plurivaricis (holotype, ECS, CN 553B–35, 114 m, 41.5 × 12.5 mm); (H) Inquisitor latifasciata (ECS, CN 57–658); (I) Inquisitor aesopus (Beibu Gulf, CN Q21B-22); (J) lectotype of Drillia aesopus, ZMAN (des. Kilburn, 1988), Kwandang Bay, west of entrance, north coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, 72 m, fine sand with mud; 36.5 × 9.1 mm.