Fusoterebra Sacco, 1891a

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard M., 2023, The auger snails (Gastropoda, Conoidea, Terebridae) of the Miocene Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 5385 (1), pp. 1-70 : 6

Genus Fusoterebra Sacco, 1891a

Type species. Fusus terebrinus Bellardi & Michelotti, 1840 ; original designation by Sacco (1891a: 59). Miocene, Italy.

Synonyms. Bathyterebra Fedosov, Malcolm, Terryn, Gorson, Modica, Holford & Puillandre, 2020 . Type species. Terebra benthalis Dall, 1889 , original designation by Fedosov et al. (2020: 364). Present-day; South China Sea, New Caledonia, Caribbean.

Original diagnosis. “Testa turrito-fusoidea, apice acuta. Anfractus longitudinaliter pluricostati, superne subcarinato-granulosi, transversim dense et parvillime sulcati. Apertura subovata. Columella intorta. Cauda elongata .” [Shell turrito-fusoid, apex acute. Multicostate in axial direction, at upper side subcarinate-granulose, transversally densely and finely sulcate. Aperture subovate. Columella twisted. Siphonal canal elongate] ( Sacco 1891a: 59).

Revised diagnosis. “Narrow shape, quite long; pointed spire; whorls numerous, adorned with narrow, subnodular folds near the lower suture and in the middle of the height of each whorl; last whorl equals one quarter of the total width, attenuated at the base on which the axial folds extend. Aperture narrow, fusoid, terminated in front by a fairly long, narrow and twisted canal, not very deeply cut at the base; inner lip, thickened inside; columella inflected in a S, very elongated, unusually angular along the canal, covered with a thin and rather wide margin; very protruding hull, limiting the increase of the indentation on the neck of the channel ” ( Cossmann 1896: 57, translated from French).

Discussion. Fedosov et al. (2020) placed two extant genera in Pellifroniinae : Pellifronia Terryn & Holford, 2008 and Bathyterebra Fedosov, Malcolm, Terryn, Gorson, Modica, Holford & Puillandre, 2020 . All extant species of this subfamily live in bathyal depths. Whilst the shells of Pellifronia have a typical terebrid outline, Bathyterebra differs by its fusiform shape due to the relatively high last whorl with convex outline ( Fedosov et al. 2020: 365). In addition, it has a weakly defined subsutural band. In these features, Bathyterebra is strikingly similar to the monotypic Miocene genus Fusoterebra Sacco, 1891a . Currently, three living species are placed in Bathyterebra : Bathyterebra benthalis ( Dall, 1889) , B. coriolisi ( Aubry, 1999) and B. zhongshaensis Malcolm, Terryn & Fedosov, 2020 in Fedosov et al. (2020). Especially, B. benthalis and B. zhongshaensis are reminiscent of Fusoterebra terebrina Bellardi & Michelotti, 1840 , the type species of Fusoterebra . All living species differ from species of Fusoterebra in the inflated last whorl compared to the spire whorls. Moreover, the last whorl is not evenly convex in Fusoterebra terebrina but shouldered at the subsutral row of tubercles and slightly angled at the base.