Triphoris (Mastonia) grayii Hinds, 1843

Albano, Paolo G., Bakker, Piet A. J. & Sabelli, Bruno, 2019, Annotated catalogue of the types of Triphoridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Natural History Museum of the United Kingdom, London, Zoosystematics and Evolution 95 (1), pp. 161-308 : 161

Triphoris (Mastonia) grayii Hinds, 1843

Figure 30

Triphoris (Mastonia) grayii Hinds 1843b: 19, not illustrated.

Type locality.

"The Mediterranean Sea".

Type material.

Holotype: NHMUK 1874.9.9.2, fixed by monotypy (J.E. Gray coll.) .

Original description.

Testa ovali; anfractibus decem, superioribus biseriatim granulosis moniliferis, duabus inferioribus triseriatim, serie media minima. Axis 4½ lin.

Geog. The Mediterranean Sea. Cab. Gray.

The single specimen of this very pretty shell has the mouth much injured.

Translation of the Latin text.

Oval shell; ten whorls, the upper ones with two rows of granules, the lower ones with three rows, the intermediate the smallest. Height 4½ lines.

Diagnosis.

Holotype 8.2 mm high. Shell cyrtoconoid and rather broad. Teleoconch of 10 visible whorls, but likely the very first whorls are missing. Teleoconch whorls have two very strong spiral cords bearing large tubercles at the intersection with orthocline axial ribs. In the second half of the shell, a third finer one develops and a fine smooth suprasutural cord is also visible. Spiral microsculpture is also visible between the main cords. The base has one tuberculated and one smooth additional cords. The peristome is incomplete, but bears an additional spiral cord between the third and the fourth. The siphonal canal is well developed with additional smooth cords. The apex is missing. The teleoconch has a whitish background visible between the main cords which are deep orange in the interspaces and bear creamy tubercles.

Remarks.

This has not been recognized as a Mediterranean species ( Bouchet 1985). In contrast, it is remarkably similar to the shell identified as Monophorus cf. thiriotae Bouchet, 1985 illustrated by Rolán (1993, 2001, 2005: 327) from the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands and other localities in West Africa.

Figures

Figure 30. Triphoris grayii Hinds, 1843, J. E. Gray coll. A-H Holotype, NHMUK 1874.9.9.2: front (B, C), side (A, D), back (E), aperture (F), microsculpture (G), original labels (H). Scale bars: A-F: 1 mm; G: 0.3 mm.