Varioconus guinaicus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 ) Tenorio & Abalde & Pardos-Blas & Cmim, 2020

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 : 69-70

Varioconus guinaicus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov.

Fig. 10 L–P

Conus guinaicus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 697 .

Conus adansonii Lamarck, 1810: 424 .

Conus taslei Kiener, 1850: 360 , pl. 110, fig. 3.

Conus luridus A. Adams, 1854: 118 .

Conus pineaui Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989b: 66 , figs 17, 32, 38.

Lautoconus wolof Petuch & Berschauer, 2018: 169 , figs 3D–F. syn. nov.

Conus guinaicus – Monteiro et al. 2004: 51, pls 40–42.

Conus taslei – Monteiro et al. 2004: 73, pl. 44.

Conus pineaui – Monteiro et al. 2004: 65, pl. 43.

Material examined

Lectotype

“ GUINEA ” • 43 mm; MHNG-MOLL-52638 ( Fig. 10L ).

Other material

SENEGAL • 1 spec., 50.2 mm; Ndayane, Petite Côte ; 14º33ʹ59ʺ N, 17º8ʹ3ʺ W; 2 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801861 ; MNCN 15.05/78443 ( Fig. 10M ) • 1 spec.; Fann , Terrou-Bi , Dakar; 14º40ʹ28ʺ N, 17º28ʹ9ʺ W; 4 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801848 ; MNCN 15.05/78511 • 1 spec.; Joal-Fadiouth ; 14º8ʹ20ʺ N, 16º48ʹ57ʺ W; 2 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801855 ; MNCN 15.05/78476 • 1 spec.; Ndayane, Petite Côte; 2016; L. Tamagnini leg.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240805 ; MNCN 15.05/78541 • 1 spec., 28.7 mm, holotype of C. pineaui ; Cap de Naze, Popenguine , south of Dakar; 20–30 m depth; MNHN IM-2000-2528 ( Fig. 10O ) .

GAMBIA • 1 spec., 21.1 mm, holotype of Lautoconus wolof ; off Tanji Beach ; MNHN IM-2000- 2528 ( Fig. 10N ) • 1 spec.; same locality as for holotype; 19 Feb. 2019; L. Tamagnini leg.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240811 ; MNCN 15.05/90434 .

Geographical distribution

Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. Also reported from Ghana.

Conservation status in IUCN Red List

Vulnerable. Status revision required.

Remarks

This is the most representative taxon of a very compact clade, which includes a number of very closely related species, and certain populations with minimal differences in mitogenome sequences that are now considered synonyms (forms), such as taslei or pineaui ( Fig. 10O ). All these taxa share the same radular tooth morphology: narrow and elongated radular tooth with the anterior section longer than the posterior section, rounded blade covering less than half of the anterior section, and more than 40 denticles in the serration ( Abalde et al. 2017b). The population from Gorée Island, characterized by its dark brown shell, does not correspond to the taxon guinaicus but to its sister species V. franciscanus . The distribution range of V. guinaicus is quite large, from Dakar area south to Guinea including Gambia, and also reported from Ghana. The taxon V. wolof ( Fig. 10N ), recently described from Gambia, has been sequenced. The sequence of its mitogenome is essentially identical to that of V. guinaicus ( Fig. 2 ). Therefore, this name represents a mere local form of V. guinaicus and is hereby considered a synonym.

Figures

Fig. 10 (opposite page). A. Conus ambiguus Reeve, 1844, neotype, 39.3 mm (NBC). B. Conus bellocqae van Rossum, 1996,paratype,60 mm(F.Gubbiolicoll.,Marbella, Spain).C. Monteiroconustabidus (Reeve, 1844), 33.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/78864). D. Conus belairensis Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989, holotype, 36.7 mm (MNHN IM-2000-32668). E. Varioconus bruguieresi (Kiener, 1846) comb. nov., 32.1 mm (MNCN 15.05/78497). F. Varioconus cloveri (Walls, 1978) comb. nov., 23.2 mm (MNCN 15.05/78457). G. Varioconus echinophilus (Petuch, 1975b) comb. nov., 22.0. mm (MNCN 15.05/90430). H. Conus franciscanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792, lectotype, 56.6 mm (MHNG-MOLL-52625). I. Varioconus franciscanus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov., 53.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/78491). J. Varioconus franciscanus f. hybridus (Kiener, 1847), 40.0 mm (MNCN 15.05/78427). K. Conus guanche Lauer, 1993, holotype, 34.0 mm (MNHN IM-2000-2553). L. Conus guinaicus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792, lectotype, 43.0 mm (MHNG-MOLL-52638). M. Varioconus guinaicus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov., 50.2 mm (MNCN 15.05/78443). N. Lautoconus wolof Petuch & Berschauer, 2018, holotype, 21.1 mm (MNHN IM-2000-34015). O. Conus pineaui Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989, holotype, 28.7 mm (MNHN IM-2000-2528). P. Conus dorotheae Monnier & Limpalaër, 2010, holotype, 26.8 mm (MNHN IM-2009-8702). Scale bars = 10 mm.

Fig. 2. Phylogenetic relationships of West African cones and species delimitation. A time tree (relaxed molecular clock) was reconstructed following methods and calibrations in Abalde et al. (2017a). Dates are in million years. Bold names indicate new mitogenomes. A red line indicates the threshold (uncorrected p distance of 0.2%, based on the divergences between Africonus verdensis (Trovão, 1979) and its sister group and Varioconus guanche (Lauer, 1993) and its sister group) for species delimitation.