Stomatella auricula Lamarck, 1816

Herbert, David G., 2024, The Vetigastropoda (Mollusca) of Walters Shoal, with descriptions of two new genera and thirty new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 923, pp. 1-119 : 102

Stomatella auricula Lamarck, 1816

Fig. 41A–C

Stomatella auricula Lamarck, 1816 : pl. 450 fig. 1a–b.

Type loc.: not originally cited, but later given as “ l’Océan des Moluques et de la Nouvelle-Hollande ” ( Lamarck 1822: 210).

Stomatella auricula – Herbert 2015: 61 (further synonymy and chresonymy).

Material examined

WALTERS SHOAL • 1 empty shell; slopes, stn DW4887; 33°17′ S, 43°57′ E; depth 599–640 m; 3 May 2017; MNHN .

Remarks

This specimen is quite distinct from the material described below. The rate of expansion of the generating curve is less rapid and the profile of the shell in apical view is thus less elongate and the spire is proportionately larger. It differs further in that the spiral sculpture is much weaker, comprising only relatively widely-spaced, microscopic, incised striae on the apical surface, though these are stronger at the periphery and on the base. It is much closer to Stomatella auricula , a shallow-water species common in the tropical south-western Indian Ocean ( Herbert 2015), and I identify it as such. It is, however, difficult to explain the occurrence of a single, relatively fresh, shell in comparatively deep water on Walters Shoal, when it is evidently absent on the summit region. It seems likely to stem from stochastic colonisation by isolated individuals, this shell having been transported post-mortem down-slope.

Figures

Fig. 41. A–C. Stomatella auricula Lamarck, 1816, Walters Shoal, stn DW4887, maximum dimension 6.8 mm (MNHN). D–I. Stomatella multilirata sp. nov. D–F. Holotype, maximum dimension 8.3 mm (MNHN-IM-2013-67246). G–I. Paratype with more orange coloration and tented pattern of whitish markings, maximum dimension 9.5 mm (MNHN-IM-2000-35729).