Megaxinus ellipticus (Borson, 1825)

Kiel, Steffen & Taviani, Marco, 2018, Chemosymbiotic bivalves from the late Pliocene Stirone River hydrocarbon seep complex in northern Italy, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63 (3), pp. 557-568 : 558-559

Megaxinus ellipticus (Borson, 1825)

Fig. 3 .

1825 Lucina elliptica sp. nov.; Borson 1825: 140, pl. 19: 5.

Material.―A single, large, articulated shell (MGGC.22008), 51 mm long and 53 mm high; from the late Pliocene of Italy, Stirone seep complex.

Remarks. —This species is common in the Mediterranean Pliocene ( Chirli 2015) and our specimen agrees well with those illustrated by Sacco (1901: pl. 17). It has also been reported from the Pleistocene of Italy ( Chirli 2015) but many records may prove in the future to be misidentifications since encompassing too many varieties of habitats, shallow to deep. A similar species is Megaxinus rostratus ( Pecchioli, 1864) , also from the Pliocene of northern Italy, which may or may not be synonym with M. ellipticus ( Sacco 1901; Glover and Taylor 1997).

Stratigraphic and geographic range. —According to Sacco (1901) this species is found in late Miocene to late Pliocene sediments in northern Italy, and there are unconfirmed reports from the middle Miocene of Poland ( Studencka and Studencki 1988), the late Miocene of southern Turkey ( Islamoglu and Taner 2003), and the late Pliocene of Crete ( Drinia et al. 2005).

Figures

Fig. 3. The lucinid bivalve Megaxinus ellipticus (Borson, 1825) from the late Pliocene of Italy, Stirone River seep deposit. MGGC.22008, close-up of hinge region of RV (A), view of left valve exterior and right valve hinge (B), view of exterior of right valve (C); dorsal view on right valve (D).