Inquisitor aesopus ( Schepman, 1913 )

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 : 717-718

Inquisitor aesopus ( Schepman, 1913)

( Figure 1I,J )

Drillia aesopus Schepman, 1913, p 46 (410), pl. 26, fig. 6. Type loc.: Kwandang Bay , west of entrance, north coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, 72 m, fine sand with mud.

? Crassispira aesopus: Powell 1966, p 76 , D.100 (radula) (“? Crassispira cf. aesopus ” in caption).

Inquisitor (Inquisitor) aesopus: Shuto 1970, p 163 , pl. 10, figs 9–13 (syntype); Kilburn 1988, p 261, figs 215–216 (lectotype).

Material examined

Beibu Gulf. Two specimens, CN N42 B-70, 20°30′ N, 108°30′ E, medium sand, 50.5 m, AT, 19 April 1959 ; 1 spm, CN X11 B-33, 19°30′ N, 106°15′ E, muddy sand, 30 m, AT, 5 December 1959 ; 2 spms, CN X28 B-18, 18°45′ N, 106°00′ E, sand, 25.3 m, AT, 9 December 1959 ; 1 spm, CN Q21 B-22, 19°45′ N, 106°30′ E, muddy sand, 31 m, AT, 13 May 1960 ; 1 spm, CN Q162 B-30, 21°15′ N, 109°24′ E, sand, 12 m, AT, 17 February 1960 ; 1 spm, CN Q239 B-48, 20°15′ N, 109°30′ E, sandy mud, 24.5 m, AT, 14 July 1960 ; 2 spms, CN Q232 B-16, 20°00′ N, 106°45′ E, silty mud, AT, 12 July 1960 ; 1 spm, CN Z24 B-8, 18°30′ N, 106°15′ E, muddy sand, 27 m, AT, 16 May 1960 ; 1 spm, CN X54 B-29, 20°00′ N, 106°30′ E, muddy sand, 33 m, AT, 8 February 1960 ; 1 spm, CN 84 B-11, 19°30′ N, 106°00′ E, muddy sand, 23.6 m, AT, 13 May 1960 ; 1 spm, CN X99 B-31, 19°45′ N, 107°30′ E, muddy sand, 49 m, AT, 19 April 1960 ; 1 spm, CN Q126-26 , 20°05′ N, 109°45′ E, coarse sand, 40 m, AT, 8 February 1960 ; 1 spm, CN X7 AB-21, 19°00′ N, 105°45′ E, muddy sand, 12.8 m, AT, 11 February 1960 ; 2 spms, CN Q149 B-32, 20°45′ N, 107°30′ E, mud, 31 m, AT, Feb. 16, 1960 .

SCS. Two specimens, CN X5 B-64, 21°45′ N, 114°00′ E, sand, 51.5 m, 4 December 1959 ; 1 spm, CN S185 B-11, 22°00′ N, 115°00′ E, silt, 62 m, AT, 8 January 1960 ; 2 spms, CN S229 B-19, 22°00′ N, 116°30′ E, fine sand, 88 m, AT, 23 April 1960 .

Measurements

See Table 1.

Distribution

Beibu Gulf, SCS; Indonesia, Philippines.

Type material

Lectotype (described by Kilburn, 1988) ZMAN, Siboga Exped. 3.13.019, stn 116, 31.2 × 8.8 mm. Two paralectotypes ex Stn 116 in ZMAN, one ex Stn 114, 72 m.

Remarks

This material appears to agree with figures and photographs of type specimens of Inquisitor aesopus ( Figure 1J ). This species might also be compared with Clavatula sinensis Hinds, 1843 , but although the name sinensis was frequently used in old literature, it should be rejected as a nomen dubium, for the following reasons. The type figure ( Hinds 1844: 17, pl. 5, Figure 11) is lacking in details, and no types can now be traced (the type locality – New Guinea, Straits of Macassar and China Sea, 5–21 fathoms – indicates that at least three syntypes were available to Hinds). Moreover, it is likely that the type set was composite, as Reeve’s figure (1843: pl. 18, fig. 153), poor as it is, appears to show a species different from that of Hinds, despite Reeve’s claim that variability accounted for the differences.

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.