Pseudonoduloconus gastaldii ( Michelotti, 1847 )

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2016, A revision of the Neogene Conidae and Conorbidae (Gastropoda) of the Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 4210 (1), pp. 1-178 : 142-143

Pseudonoduloconus gastaldii ( Michelotti, 1847)

Figs 33 F1–F3

Conus Gastaldii mihi—Michelotti 1847: 344.

Conus nocturnus Lamarck—Neugeboren 1858: 106 [non Conus nocturnus Lamarck, 1810 , non Conus nocturnus [ Lightfoot], 1786].

Conus (Stephanoconus) subcoronatus n. sp. — Boettger 1887: 4, pl. 2, figs 9a–b. [ Conus ] Stephanoconus Gastaldii (Micht.) — Sacco 1893b: 117, pl. 11, fig. 10.

[ Conus ] S. [tephanoconus] Gastaldii var. supracompressa Sacc. — Sacco 1893b: 117, pl. 11, fig. 11.

[ Conus ] S. [tephanoconus] Gastaldii var. superneasulcata Sacc. — Sacco 1893b: 117, pl. 11, fig. 12.

[ Conus ] S. [tephanoconus] Gastaldii var. supraproducta Sacc. — Sacco 1893b: 117, pl. 11, fig. 13.

Conus gastaldii Michelotti, 1847 — Hall 1966: 147, pl. 24, figs 16, 20 [cum syn.].

Stephanoconus gastaldii ( Michelotti, 1847) —Ferrero-Mortara et al. 1984: 134, pl. 21, figs 5a–5b.

Pseudonoduloconus gastaldii — Tucker & Tenorio 2009: 114, fig. 20 left.

Type material. Syntype, illustrated by Sacco (1893b, pl. 11, fig. 10), Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino (BS.038.08.003), Turin Hills, early Miocene, Burdigalian. The type locality of Conus subcoronatus Boettger, 1887 , considered to be a junior synonym of P. gastaldii , is the middle Miocene (Badenian) locality Lăpugiu de Sus in Romania.

Studied material. 1 spec. SMF XII.2246 a, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania).

Illustrated material. Figs 33 F1–F3: SMF XII.2246 a coll. O. Boettger ex G. Schmidt 1885, SL: 50.1 mm, MD: 26.8 mm, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania); holotype of Conus subcoronatus Boettger, 1887 ; picture Sigrid Hof; courtesy Ronald Janssen, section Malacology, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut Frankfurt / Main.

Revised description. Moderately large and robust shell with low spire; early spire whorls tuberculate just above suture. Spire whorls striate, weakly convex with wide, blurred nodes (= pseudo-nodes sensu Tucker & Tenorio 2009); suture undulose. Subsutural flexure shallow, moderately curved, strongly asymmetrical. Rounded shoulder with blurred nodes; position of maximum diameter slightly below shoulder; last whorl elongate, faintly ventricose, weakly constricted. Aperture and siphonal canal largely destroyed; siphonal fasciole indistinctly swollen. Few prominent spiral cords on base. No colour pattern preserved.

Shell measurements and ratios. Holotype: SL: 50.1 mm, MD: 26.8 mm, spire angle: 112°, last whorl angle: 32°, LW: 1.87, RD: 0.63, PMD: 0.95, RSH: 0.15.

Discussion. Tucker & Tenorio (2009) placed this rare species in Pseudonoduloconus based on the conspicuous spire sculpture; this was followed by Kovács & Balász (2016), who treated the Paratethyan Pseudonoduloconus subcoronatus as distinct species. The illustration in Boettger (1887) is misguiding and suggests a broader shell with slightly opisthocline and very prominent nodes. In fact, the holotype is a rather slender shell with low spire, which does not differ from the Italian Burdigalian morphotype described by Sacco (1893b, pl. 11, fig. 13) as Conus gastaldii supraproducta . Therefore, we consider Conus subcoronatus Boettger, 1887 to be a subjective junior synonym of Conus gastaldii Michelotti, 1847 . It is not surprising that Boettger (1887) did not recognise the synonymy because the first figures of Conus gastaldii were published much later by Sacco (1893b).

This species is distinguished from P. austriacus ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) by its distinctly more slender outline, the less constricted base, the narrower and higher spire and the more swollen “pseudo-nodes”.

Paleoenvironment. Unknown.

Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Transylvanian Basin: Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Boettger 1887).

Proto-Mediterranean Sea and northeastern Atlantic : Burdigalian (early Miocene): Turin Hills ( Sacco 1893b); Aquitaine Basin: Léognan, Mérignac, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax ( France) ( Peyrot 1931); middle Miocene (Langhian): Langhian : Aquitaine Basin: Manciet ( France) ( Peyrot 1931, as Conus subnocturnus, d’Orbigny, 1852 ).

Figures

FIGURE 33 A 1 – A 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 2013 / 0479 / 1615. 33 B 1 – B 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 1860 / 0001 / 0062. 33 C 1 – C 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 1851 / 0013 / 0062. 33 D 1 – D 3. Plagioconus lapugyensis (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1870 / 0033 / 0006 a, syntype. 33 E 1 – E 3. Coşteiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1867 / 0019 / 0005. 33 F 1 – F 3. Pseudonoduloconus gastaldii (Michelotti, 1847), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania) SMF XII. 2246 a. 33 G 1 – G 2. Pseudonoduloconus austriacus (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1875 / 0009 / 0001, syntype. 33 H 1 – H 4. Pseudonoduloconus austriacus (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Steinebrunn (Austria), NHMW 1866 / 0011 / 0106, syntype. 33 I 1 – I 3.. Pseudonoduloconus wagneri (Boettger, 1902), Coşteiu de Sus (Romania); SMF XII. 2204 a, holotype.