Merica elegans (Sowerby I, 1822)

Jirapatrasilp, Parin, Cuny, Gilles, Kocsis, László, Sutcharit, Chirasak, Ngamnisai, Nom, Charoentitirat, Thasinee, Kumpitak, Satapat & Suraprasit, Kantapon, 2024, Mid-Holocene marine faunas from the Bangkok Clay deposits in Nakhon Nayok, the Central Plain of Thailand, ZooKeys 1202, pp. 1-110 : 1-110

Merica elegans (Sowerby I, 1822)

Figs 3 L , 6 G

Cancellaria elegans Sowerby I, 1822: Cancellaria, pl. 218, fig. 3. Type locality: unknown. Tantanasiriwong 1978: 17. Nateewathana et al. 1981: 61. Robba et al. 2007: 51 – 52, fig. 19 d, e; 93 (appendix).

Cancellaria asperella [sic]. Cernohorsky 1972: 179, pl. 50, fig. 3 right.

Merica elegans . Verhecken 1986: 40 – 41, fig. 9. Verhecken 1997: 307 – 308, fig. 36. Swennen et al. 2001: 57, 133, fig. 461. Hylleberg and Kilburn 2003: 100. Dharma 2005: 134, pl. 42, fig. 1. Thach 2005: 188, pl. 58, figs 6, 10. Hemmen 2007: 128 – 129, with in-text fig. Verhecken 2008: 818, pl. 704, fig. 5 a, b. BEDO 2017 b: 221, with in-text fig. Tudu et al. 2018: table 1. Wells et al. 2021: 121.

Referred material.

CUF - NKNY - G 18 (3 shells; Figs 3 L , 6 G ).

Habitat.

Sandy and muddy bottoms at a depth from 10 to 30 m ( Robba et al. 2004; Thach 2005).

Distribution.

Indo-West Pacific, from Japan to the Philippines. Records of fossils from the Miocene in Indonesia, and from the Quaternary in Japan ( Robba et al. 2007).

Record in Thailand.

Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea ( Wells et al. 2021).

Taxonomic remarks and comparisons.

This species differs from its similar species, Merica asperella ( Lamarck, 1822) , in having a slenderer and more fusiform shell with a narrower aperture and a sculptured shell with finer and more numerous ribs crossed by spiral ridges nearly of the same strength, showing a rectangular reticulated pattern ( Robba et al. 2007).

Scalptia Jousseaume, 1887

Figures

Figure 3. Size comparison of coral and gastropods found in this study A Oulangia cf. stokesiana B Neripteron violaceum C Nerita articulata D Natica stellata E Natica vitellus F Homalopoma cf. sangarense G Eunaticina papilla H Ergaea walshi I Pirenella incisa J Scalptia scalariformis K Telescopium telescopium L Merica elegans M Cerithidea obtusa N Bufonaria rana O Nassarius micans P Nassarius siquijorensis Q Paratectonatica tigrina.

Figure 6. Gastropods A Eunaticina papilla B Natica stellata C Natica vitellus D Paratectonatica tigrina E Ergaea walshi F Bufonaria rana G Merica elegans H Scalptia scalariformis.