Cocculinella bertolasoi, Dell’Angelo & Sosso & Bonfitto, 2011

Dell’Angelo, Bruno, Sosso, Maurizio & Bonfitto, Antonio, 2011, First record of Cocculinella (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Cocculiniformia) from the Lower Pleistocene of Southern Italy with the description of two new species, Geodiversitas 33 (4), pp. 739-746 : 742-743

Cocculinella bertolasoi n. sp. ( Fig. 2 G-L)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: MZB 45692, shell from Valanidi ( Figs 2G, H , J-L). Paratype: BD, shell from Capo Milazzo ( Fig. 2I ).

ETYMOLOGY. — The specific name honours our friend Luca Bertolaso (Reggio Emilia), who collected part of the material here presented and made it available to the authors.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Valanidi, Reggio Calabria Province, Southern Italy.

TYPE STAGE. — Lower Pleistocene.

MEASUREMENTS. — see Table 2.

DESCRIPTION

Shell patelliform, up to 3.87 mm long (the holotype), thin and fragile. Aperture narrowly elliptical, ends evenly rounded, sides subparallel and very shallowly rounded, slightly convex from side to side so that only the center contacts a flat surface. Spire depressed-conical, apex slightly behind the centre, anterior slope profile slightly convex, posterior slope profile practically straight or shallowly concave, anterior and posterior slope areas regularly connected with lateral areas, posterior outline regularly rounded. Protoconch clearly demarcated, 335 µm long and 220 µm wide in the holotype, of about one whorl, tip of apical fold perfectly fused behind the apertural rim. Teleoconch with only fine collabral growth lines.

REMARKS

The paratype from Capo Milazzo has the same general shape as the holotype. Cocculinella bertolasoi n. sp. differs from C. freti n. sp. in general shape, more narrow and elongate in C. freti n. sp. (L/ W 2.91 - 3.75 in C. freti n. sp. vs 2.03-2.39 in C. bertolasoi n. sp.; W/H 0.58-0.75 in C. freti n. sp. vs 0.84 in C. bertolasoi n. sp.) and in having a more globose and larger protoconch (285 × 188 µm in C. freti n. sp. vs 335 × 220 µm in C. bertolasoi n. sp.).

DISTRIBUTION Cocculinella bertolasoi n. sp. is only known from the lower Pleistocene of Valanidi (Reggio Calabria Province, Calabria) and Capo Milazzo (Messina Province, Sicily), Southern Italy.

Figures

FIG. 2. — Lower Pleistocene Cocculinella Thiele, 1909 species: A-F, Cocculinella freti n. sp.; A, B, D-F, holotype (MZB 45691) from Archi (Reggio Calabria Province) in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views; D, E, protoconch; F, teleoconch; C, paratype from Valanidi (Reggio Calabria Province), dorsal view, not coated; G-L, Cocculinella bertolasoi n. sp.; G, H, J-L, holotype (MZB 45692), from Valanidi (Reggio Calabria Province) in dorsal (G) and lateral (H) views;J, K, protoconch; L, teleoconch; I, paratype from Capo Milazzo (Messina Province, Sicily), not coated. Scale bars: A, B, I, 500 μm; C, G, H, 1 mm; D-F, J-L, 100 μm.