Volvulella acuminata ( Bruguière, 1792 )

Thivaiou, Danae, Harzhauser, Mathias & Koskeridou, Efterpi, 2019, Early Miocene Gastropods from the Felli Section (Proto-Mediterranean Sea NW Greece), Geodiversitas 41 (8), pp. 323-366 : 348-349

Volvulella acuminata ( Bruguière, 1792) (Fig. 7 F1, F2)

Bulla acuminata Bruguière, 1792: 376 .

Volvulella acuminata – Landau et al. 2013: 339 , pl. 78, fig. 2 (cum syn.).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Sample F11: AMPG ( IV) 2547-2549 (three specimens).

DIMENSIONS. — Maximum height: 2.32 mm.

DISTRIBUTION. — Early Miocene. Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Italy ( Sacco 1897), Greece (this paper).

Middle Miocene. Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Turkey ( Landau et al. 2013); Paratethys: Austria ( Berger 1953), Hungary ( Strausz 1966); North Sea Basin: the Netherlands (A.W. Janssen 1984), Germany ( Moths et al. 2010).

Late Miocene. NE Atlantic ( Landau et al. 2013).

Early Pliocene. NE Atlantic, North Sea Basin ( Landau et al. 2013); western Mediterranean ( Landau et al. 2011); eastern Mediterranean: Greece ( Koskeridou et al. 2017).

Early Pleistocene. Central Mediterranean: Italy (Cerulli-Irelli 1910).

Recent. Eastern Atlantic, Norway to Angola into Mediterranean ( Landau et al. 2013).

REMARKS

Minute species, with a characteristic pointed apex. The morphology of the shells of the present material is consistent with the representatives of this species. As mentioned for Retusa truncatula, Vollvulela acuminata is either an extremely long lived species or a species complex that includes specimens that have similar and indistinguishable morphologies. In the Early Miocene the species is missing from the Aquitanian and Loire Basins in France, where Volvulella acuta ( Grateloup, 1827) is present ( Landau et al. 2013).

Figures

FIG. 7. — A1-A3, Mathilda sp., AMPG(IV) 2478; B1, B2, Acteon cf. pinguis d’Orbigny, 1852: B1, AMPG(IV) 2479 (SEM image); B2, AMPG(IV) 2479, detail of microsculpture (SEM image); C1, C2, Ringicula minor (Grateloup, 1838), AMPG(IV) 2488; D1-D3, Retusa truncatula (Bruguière, 1792): D1, D2, AMPG(IV) 2541; D3, AMPG(IV) 2542 (SEM image); E1, E2, Pyrunculus sp., AMPG(IV) 2545; F1, F2, Volvulella acuminata (Bruguière, 1792), AMPG(IV) 2547; G1-G3, Pyramidella cf. plicosa Bronn, 1838: G1, G2, AMPG(IV) 2554; G3, AMPG(IV) 2555 (SEM image); H1-H3, ‘Odostomia’ sp. 1, AMPG(IV) 2557; H3, AMPG(IV) 2557 (SEM image); H4, AMPG(IV) 2557, apex (SEM image). Scale bars: A1-A3, C1, C2, E1, E2, F1, F2, G1, G2, H1, H2, 1 mm; B1, 200 µm; B2, H4, 100 µm; D1, D2, H3, 500 µm; D3, G3, 400 µm.