Vexillum (Protoelongata) rubrotaeniatum, Herrmann & Stossier & Salisbury, 2014

Herrmann, Manfred, Stossier, Günter & Salisbury, Richard, 2014, A new subgenus including three new species of the genus Vexillum (Gastropoda: Costellariidae) from the central Indo-Pacific with remarks on Vexillum (Pusia) semicostatum (ANTON, 1838), Contributions to Natural History 24, pp. 1-55 : 19-22

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5169/seals-787038
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5846187
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/61145817-2452-FFFE-FF4A-00DEFD7B8230
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Vexillum (Protoelongata) rubrotaeniatum
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Vexillum (Protoelongata) rubrotaeniatum View in CoL sp. nov.

( Figs. 4 View Plate 1 , 17–19 View Plate 6 View Plate 7 , 48–51 View Plate 14 )

Vexillum semicostatum View in CoL . – Pechar, Prior & Parkinson (1980): text page 9 (unpaginated, species list D), upper figure of live specimen, plate 54, figs. 2, 3 [non (ANTON, 1838)]

Vexillum semicostatum View in CoL . – Richards (1989): page 4, picture " Costellariidae View in CoL from Kimbe dredgings", [non (ANTON, 1838)]

Description

Slender, fusiform shell, reaching about 20 mm in length, width averages 31% of length. Fragile protoconch broken or missing in all shells studied. Teleoconch consists of 7 to 8 slightly convex whorls. Straight spire outline. First two to three whorls with fine axial ribs, remaining whorls with widely spaced axial folds. Whole shell covered with fine spiral threads. Aperture shorter than half the entire shell, lirate inside. Lip straight on posterior half, recurved towards the siphonal fasciole. Siphonal canal short, wide and slightly recurved. Columella with 4 strong folds, decreasing in size anteriorly.

Colour pattern: Shell colour yellowish to deep orange with darker orange or deep red spiral bands in the anterior third of the spire whorls and on the periphery of the body whorl. Often white spots present in the red bands in the area of the axial folds. Sometimes white spots are missing completely. Siphonal fasciole completely coloured like the darker bands. Columellar folds whitish on reddish columellar shield. Aperture coloured as the outer shell; yellowish to orange with darker bands.

Animal: Siphon and foot black with white spots with a yellow dot in the centre, white streaks along the margin, eye stalks black at the base with a translucent band in the middle, above the large eye the stalk is transparent with tiny white or yellow spots within.

Holotype: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Kavieng, Baudisson Bay , in rubble at 15–35 m, 15.0 mm x 4.5 mm, ex TB, NMBE 519550 View Materials .

Paratype 1: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Kavieng, Baudisson Bay , in rubble at 15–35 m, 13.0 mm x 4.4 mm, GS ; paratypes 2–3: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Djaul Island , night scuba under rubble at 12–15 m (paratype 2: 15.1 mm x 4.8 mm; paratype 3: 7.3 mm x 2.9 mm, juvenile) TB ; paratypes 4–5: Papua New Guinea, Rabaul, Monument Nodup , collected 1977 by scuba at 40 m (paratype 4: 14.5 mm x 4.3 mm; paratype 5: 14.1 mm x 4.6 mm) TB ; paratype 6: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Kavin Village (02°45'20''S, 150°44'20''E), on coral rubble at 26 m collected Nov 1996 by Sandro Gori, 15.1 mm x 5.0 mm, SG GoogleMaps ; paratype 7: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Djaul Island , scuba on sand at 16 m, 14.6 mm x 4.9 mm, ah: 7.9 mm, SG ; paratype 8: Papua New Guinea, Kimbe Harbor , dredged, 14.3 mm x 4.7 mm, JCM ; paratype 9: Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, Bonegi , on rocks at night at 70 ft collected Aug 1987, 13.8 mm x 4.5 mm, MH ; paratype 10: Solomon Islands, Russell Group , by dive collected 1987 at 6 m, 15.4 mm x 4.6 mm, TB ; paratypes 11–12: Solomon Islands, N'Gela Island (Florida Island), collected in sandy rubble at 12 m Sep 1983 by Del Stone (paratype 11: 15.3 mm x 5.1 mm, ah: 7.4 mm (worn), paratype 12: 15.9 mm x 5.5 mm, ah: 7.8 mm (outer lip broken)), RAS ; paratype 13: Micronesia, Caroline Islands, Pohnpei Island , in airport dredgings, Dec 1968, 16.8 mm x 5.1 mm, ah: 7.9 mm, RAS ; paratype 14: Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll, Nell Island , on oceanside dropoff at 60 ft, in dead coral rubble, 19.7 mm x 5.5 mm, ah: 10.3 mm, SG ; paratype 15: Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll, dead collected in sand at 20 ft 1979, ex Andy Adams, 16.4 mm x 4.7 mm, ah: 7.3 mm, RAS ; paratype 16: Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll, dead collected in sand at 20 ft 1979, ex Andy Adams, 16.1 mm x 5.0 mm, ah: 7.1 mm, RAS ; paratype 17: Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll, dead collected in sand at 20 ft 1979, ex Andy Adams , 14.5 mm x 5.4 mm, ah: 7.0 mm (spire broken, worn), RAS ; paratypes 18–20: Midway Island, Sand Island, dredged at 20–30 m Mar 1980, ex Pat Burgess (paratype 18: 16.0 mm x 4.9 mm; paratype 19: 17.6 mm x 5.6 mm; paratype 20: 15.7 mm x 4.9 mm), MH.

Type locality: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Kavieng, Baudisson Bay , in rubble at 15–35 m.

Distribution: Known from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the south via the Caroline Islands, Guam and the Marshall Islands to the Midway Islands in the northeast; not known from other Hawaiian Islands.

Etymology: The specific name derives from the Latin words "ruber" (red) and "taenia" (band). The name refers to the characteristic red band of this new species.

Discussion

Vexillum (Protoelongata) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. is similar to V. (Pr.) corallinum ( REEVE, 1845) comb. nov. ( Figs 31–35 View Plate 10 ). Both species are about the same size and similarly coloured: red to orange with white markings. This new species is more slender, more fusiform than biconical and not uniformly coloured but yellowish to deep orange with typical deep red bands on all whorls and the siphonal fasciole. The white spots are not as large, have odd shapes and sometimes are completely missing.

The distribution also is different. V. (Pr.) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. is known only from Guam, Caroline and Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Solomons, whereas V. (Pr.) corallinum comb. nov. is found from Japan to the Philippines and Malaysia, but also in Papua New Guinea, Queensland ( Australia) and Vanuatu.

As mentioned in the introduction, V. (Pr.) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. also has been confused with V. (Pusia) semicostatum (ANTON, 1838) ( Figs 56–57 View Plate 16 ), which differs from V. (Pr.) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. in being uniform brown instead of orange with red bands, larger white blotches on the later spire whorls and a broader, more ovate and smaller shell of about half the size. As mentioned before, the protoconch is paucispiral and not elongated.

V. (Pr.) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. was also confused with the banded V. (Pusia) luigiraybaudii POPPE, GUILLOT DE SUDUIRAUT & TAGARO, 2006 ( Figs 62 –65), which is a larger and more obese species. Both species are slender and orange coloured. In V. (P.) luigiraybaudii the shell is ornamented with yellow or white bands instead of red bands with white dots as in V. (Pr.) rubrotaeniatum sp. nov. In V. (P.) luigiraybaudii the white bands are sometimes missing completely and the shells are then uniformly orange (Fig. 63). The shell is sculptured with widely spaced spiral grooves forming flat spiral cords. The spiral threads are missing and the siphonal canal is much more elongated. Also the aperture is longer than half the entire shell length.