Africonus delanoyae ( Trovão, 1979 )

Tenorio, Manuel J., Abalde, Samuel, Pardos-Blas, José R. & Zardoya, Rafael, 2020, Taxonomic revision of West African cone snails (Gastropoda: Conidae) based upon mitogenomic studies: implications for conservation, European Journal of Taxonomy 663 (663), pp. 1-89 : 20-21

Africonus delanoyae ( Trovão, 1979)

Fig. 3M

Conus delanoyi Trovão, 1979: 3 , pl. 1, fig. 1.

Conus luquei Rolán, 1990: 50 , pl. 2, fig. 2.

Africonus joserochoi Cossignani, 2014: 27 . syn. nov.

Africonus swinneni Tenorio, Afonso, Cunha & Rolán, 2014: 10 , pl. 2.

Conus delanoyae – Monteiro et al. 2004: 39, pl. 77.

Conus cuneolus form B (not C. cuneolus Reeve, 1843 ) – Röckel et al. 1980a: 101, pl. 7, row 1.

Material examined

Holotype

CABO VERDE • 27.2 mm; Boa Vista Island, Baía das Gatas ; 1.5 m depth; NHMUK 1986194 .

Other material

CABO VERDE • 1 spec., 27.6 mm; Boa Vista Island, Jorrita , Baía das Gatas ; 16º12ʹ9ʺ N, 22º42ʹ22ʺ W; 30 Jun. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491547 ; MNCN 15.05/80397 ( Fig. 3M ) • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Praia Canto ; 16º11ʹ10ʺ N, 22º42ʹ28ʺ W; 30 Jun. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491552 ; MNCN 15.05/80402 • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Porto Ferreira ; 16º7ʹ45ʺ N, 22º40ʹ17ʺ W; 1 Jul. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491556 ; MNCN 15.05/80406 • 1 spec., 21.0 mm, holotype of Africonus joserochoi ; Boa Vista Island, Calheta ; MMM .

Geographical distribution

Northeast coast to Porto Ferreira on the East coast of Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago.

Conservation status in IUCN Red List

Least concern.

Remarks

This species was originally described from the population at Baía das Gatas in Boa Vista Island, and the shell color is characterized by a pattern of numerous small irregular dots on a light to dark brown background. It was treated in Röckel et al. (1980a) as Conus cuneolus form B. Other populations of cones around the northeast and east of Boa Vista Island, introduced recently as separate species, exhibit very distinct shell patterns but share the same elongated radular tooth morphology observed in A. delanoyae ( Tenorio et al. 2014) . Representative specimens of these taxa examined molecularly exhibit mitogenome sequences almost identical to that of A. delanoyae , and can be considered conspecific. Additionally, the type material of A. joserochoi is fully consistent with the concept of A. delanoyae . The author stated that the main features separating A. joserochoi from A. delanoyae were the relative height of the spire (always eroded) and the “less triangular and more pyriform shell shape” in the former. However, no morphometric data are given, nor were these differences statistically tested, so there is no sufficient evidence to consider A. joserochoi as a separate species from A. delanoyae . We can conclude that A. delanoyae is a polymorphic species, only distantly related to A. cuneolus , comprising several well-defined forms with characteristic shell patterns, sharing the same radular morphology and mitogenome sequence. The sister species A. vulcanus is separated by a genetic uncorrected p distance of 0.3%, slightly above the threshold used to delimit species. Given the different radular morphology (radular tooth broad and robust in vulcanus , but narrow and elongated in delanoyae ) we consider them tentatively separate species in spite of the close genetic proximity.

Figures

Fig. 3 (opposite page). A. Africonus antoniaensis Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2014, 14.5 mm (MNCN 15.05/79889). B. Conus antoniomonteiroi Rolán, 1990,holotype, 16.8 mm (MNCN 15.05/1100). C. Conus bellulus Rolán, 1990, holotype, 18.9 mm (MNCN 15.05/1098). D. Conus boavistensis Rolán & Fernandes in Rolán, 1990, holotype, 13.2 mm (MNCN, 15.05/1089). E. Africonus borgesi (Trovão, 1979), 30.5 mm (MNCN 15.05/88646). F. Conus navarroi calhetae Rolán, 1990, holotype, 26.8 mm (MNCN 15.05/1096). G. Conus crotchii Reeve, 1849, neotype, 22.5 mm (MNCN 15.05/79971). H. Conus irregularis G.B. Sowerby II, 1858, lectotype, 28.3 mm (NHMUK 197871/1). I. Africonus cuneolus (Reeve, 1843), 28.2 mm (MNCN, 15.05/79712). J. Conus curralensis Rolán, 1986, holotype, 17 mm (MNCN 15.05/1010). K. Africonus damottai (Trovão, 1979), 18.2 mm (MNCN 15.05/80401). L. Africonus decoratus (Röckel, Rolán & Monteiro, 1980), 23.1 mm (MNCN 15.05/78589). M. Africonus delanoyae (Trovão, 1979), 27.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/80397). N. Africonus denizi Afonso & Tenorio, 2011, holotype, 11.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/60000). O. Conus diminutus Trovão & Rolán, 1986, neotype, 14.8 mm (MNCN 15.05/80416). P. Africonus espingueirensis Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2017, holotype, 9.7 mm (MMM). Scale bars = 10 mm .