Episcomitra brusinai ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1880 )

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2021, The Mitridae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) of the Miocene Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 4983 (3), pp. 1-72 : 19-20

Episcomitra brusinai ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1880)

Figs 5A 1 –A 2

[ Mitra ] Brusinae nov. form.—Hoernes 1880: 125 [nomen nudum].

* Mitra Brusinae nov. form.— Hoernes & Auinger 1880: 76, pl. 9, figs 1a–1b [non fig 2 = Episcomitra leopoldiana nov. sp.]. [ Mitra ] Brusinae— Cossmann 1899: 156.

Episcomitra fusiformis ( Brocchi, 1814) — Landau et al. 2013: 209, pl. 22, fig. 2 [non Brocchi, 1814].

non Mitra brusinae Hoernes & Auinger 1880 — Strausz 1966: 363, pl. 41, fig. 19 [=? Episcomitra missile nov. sp.].

non Mitra ambigua var. Brusinae R. Hoern. i Auinger— Friedberg 1911: 13, text-fig. 4 [= unidentifiable fragment].

non M [itraria]. (M [itraria].) brusinae (R. Hörn, et Au.)— Sieber 1958a: 153 [= Episcomitra leopoldiana nov. sp.].

non Mitraria (M.) brusinae (R. Hörn. Auing.) — Sieber 1958b: 149 [= Episcomitra leopoldiana nov. sp.].

non Mitra brusinae R. Hoern. et Auing. — Eremija 1959: pl. 1, figs 3–3a.

Type material. Lectotype (designated herein): NHMW 1854 /0035/0100, SL: 76.7 mm, MD: 23.2 mm, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania), illustrated in Hoernes & Auinger (1880, pl. 9, figs 1a–b), figs 5A 1 –A 2.

Revised description. Shell large, moderately slender biconic-fusiform with high spire, elongate last whorl, impressed suture. Protoconch unknown. Teleoconch of eight whorls. Convexity of early teleoconch whorls weak, increasing slightly on later whorls; periphery slightly below mid-whorl. Sculpture of wide-spaced, subobsolete spiral grooves; faint spiral cords on base and fasciole. Last whorl high with periphery above position of adapical termination of aperture, slowly contracting below. Aperture narrow, abapically not constricted. Narrow, thin columellar callus, bearing four wide spaced, oblique columellar folds, weakening abapically. Outer lip thin. Siphonal canal moderately long, wide, straight, with deep siphonal notch.

Shell measurements and ratios. SL = 76.7 mm, MD: 23.2 mm, AA = 28°, SL/ MD: 3.4, AL/AW: 5.9, AH/S: 2.4.

Discussion. Bałuk (1997) was the first who doubted that the specimens described by Hoernes & Auinger (1880) as Mitra brusinai were conspecific and separated fig. 2 as Mitra repleta (= Episcomitra leopoldiana nov. sp.). To solve the status of this species, we select the specimen illustrated by Hoernes & Auinger (1880, pl. 9, fig. 1) as lectotype. Cernohorsky (1976: 378) listed Episcomitra brusinai as a synonym of Isara hoernesi ( Mayer, 1864) , which is clearly incorrect in respect to the completely different shape and much larger size of. E. brusinai .

Hoernes & Auinger (1880) described this species as Mitra Brusinae without explicitly stating after whom it was named. Obviously, the species was dedicated to the Croatian palaeontologist Spiridon Brusina (1845–1908). Therefore, we emend the grammatically incorrect feminine ending to brusinai , as already done by Bałuk (1997: 32).

A specimen from Steinebrunn ( Austria) (NHNW 2020/0123/0001, SL: 74.5 mm, MD: 20.9 mm) differs in its more slender and higher spire and more prominent, twisted fasciole As the intraspecific variability of Episcomitra brusinai is unknown, we refrain from separating the specimen as a distinct species and refer to it in open nomenclature ( Episcomitra cf. brusinai , figs 6B 1 –B 2).

Episcomitra brusinai is similar in shape to several species from the Italian Neogene, but most of those lack spiral sculpture on the last whorl. Episcomitra albigonensis (Bellardi, 1887) from the Pliocene of Italy is almost identical in profile, but is slightly smaller and the spiral sculpture is denser.

Palaeoenvironment. Unknown.

Distribution in Central Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Făget Basin: Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Hoernes & Auinger 1880).

Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Serravallian (middle Miocene): Karman Basin: Pýnarlar Yaylasý, Akpýnar ( Landau et al. 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Map of central and south–eastern Europe, representing the area that was partly covered by the Central Paratethys Sea (for detailed maps with the localities mentioned in the text see Kroh (2005) and Nosowska (2020). The white insert corresponds to the area that is restored in the palaeogeographic map below. B. Palaeogeography of the Middle Miocene Paratethys Sea (modified from Harzhauser & Landau 2017) showing the most important sedimentary basins (NAFB: North Alpine Foreland Basin, E–Sopr B: Eisenstadt–Sopron Basin).

FIGURE 2. Measurements for shell morphology and whorl profiles. SL: shell length, MD: maximum diameter, AA: apical angle, LWH: last whorl height, AH: aperture height. AL: aperture length. AW: aperture width. S: length of siphonal canal.

FIGURE 5. A1–A2. Episcomitra brusinai (Hoernes & Auinger, 1880), lectotype, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1854/0035/0100. B1–B2. Episcomitra cf. brusinai (Hoernes & Auinger, 1880), Steinebrunn (Austria), NHNW 2020/0123/0001. C1–C2. Episcomitra missile nov. sp., holotype, Guntersdorf (Austria), NHMW 202/0127/0001. D1–D2. Episcomitra missile nov. sp., paratype, Grund (Austria), NHMW 202/0128/0001. E1–E2. Episcomitra friedbergi (Cossmann, 1912), lectotype, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 20200124/0001. F1–F2. Episcomitra friedbergi (Cossmann, 1912), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1868/0001/0398. G1–G2. Episcomitra neubaueri nov. sp., holotype, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1854/0035/0084. H1– H2. Episcomitra neubaueri nov. sp., paratype, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1854/0035/0086. I1–I2. Episcomitra neubaueri nov. sp., paratype, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1855/0043/0006.