Fusinus sp.

Sacchetti, Claudia, Landau, Bernard & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2023, The Lower Pliocene marine gastropods of Santa Maria Island, Azores: Taxonomy and palaeobiogeographic implications, Zootaxa 5295 (1), pp. 1-150 : 70

Fusinus sp. ?

Plate 4 L

Santa Maria material examined. Maximum height 51.0 mm, width 2.4 mm. One specimen from LNEG collection (unnumbered), Ponta do Norte lighthouse, Santa Maria Island, Azores, Touril Complex, Lower Pliocene.

Description. Shell large, solid, fusiform, with moderate height conical spire. Protoconch missing. Six convex teleoconch whorls preserved. Surface on first four whorls eroded. Penultimate whorl convex, with periphery mid-whorl and suggestion of weak spiral sculpture. Last whorl broadly convex moderately constricted at base, with broad long siphonal fasciole; fine spiral sculpture above base, strong spiral cord on fasciole. Aperture ovate, outer lip incomplete, but without sign of labial varix.

Discussion. A single large specimen in the LNEG collection with dorsum embedded in matrix, labelled Euthria af. magna Bellardi from Ponta do Norte lighthouse, is, in our opinion, not a Euthria Gray, 1850 (Superfamily Buccinoidea ) based on its very broad siphonal fasciole that is not recurved, as it is in the genus Euthria . The siphonal canal and tip of the fasciole are covered in matrix so we cannot confirm if the fasciole curves around a pseudoumbilicus as it does in many Fusinus species. Moreover, the outer lip is not thickened as it is in the genus Euthria . We have assigned it the subfamily Fusininae Wrigley, 1927 , genus Fusinus Rafinesque, 1815 tentatively, as we cannot match it to any European or West African fossil or extant species. However, it is somewhat reminiscent of another odd species, Fusinus clavilithoides Landau, Harzhauser, B ̧y̧kmeriç & Breitenberger, 2016 from the middle Miocene eastern Mediterranean Karaman Basin of Turkey but differs in having strong cords on the siphonal fasciole, lacking in the Turkish species. In their discussion, Landau et al. (2016: 223) considered the subfamily Peristerniinae Tryon, 1880 for their Turkish specimen, but members of that subfamily have columellar folds. The columellar edge is only partially exposed in the Santa Maria specimen but no signs of folds are seen.

Distribution. Lower Pliocene: Atlantic: Santa Maria Island, Azores (this paper).

Figures

PLATE 4. A. Tethystrombus coronatus (Defrance, 1827), CIADP-F 32, height 119.1 mm, width 107.2 mm, Figueiral. B. Talisman scrobilator (Linnaeus, 1758), Ponta dos Cedros, size not known, LNEG collection (unnumbered, specimen not seen, part of a photograph database). C. Aspa marginata (Gmelin, 1791), DBUA-F 1428-1, height 28.0 mm, width 20.0 mm, Ponta dos Cedros. D1-D2. Monoplex comptus (A. Adams, 1855) height 25.0 mm, width 14.0 mm, Pinheiros (figure D1 taken from Bronn in Reiss, 1862, pl, 1, fig.10 and figure D2 from Mayer, 1864, pl. 7, fig. 52). E1-E3. Distorsio mcgintyi Emerson & Puffer, 1953, DBUA-F 1189-1, height 31.0 mm, width 18.0 mm, Pedra-que-pica. F. Xenophora sp., height 70.0 mm, diameter 15.0 mm, unknown locality, LNEG collection (unnumbered). G1-G3. Gibberula vignali Dautzenberg & Fischer, 1896, DBUA-F 1044-1, height 2.8 mm, width 1.6 mm, Pedra-que-pica. H1-H2. Cancellaria parcestriata Bronn, 1862, height 10.0 mm, width 6.5 mm, Pinheiros (figure H1 taken from Bronn in Reiss (1862), pl. 1, fig. 7 and figure H2 from Mayer (1864), pl. 7, fig. 51). I1-I2. Costoanachis semicostata (Sacco, 1890), DBUA-F 1034-4, height 6.9 mm, width 3.0 mm, Macela viewpoint. J. Costoanachis sp., DBUA-F 1059, height 2.7 mm, width 1.6 mm, Baía do Raposo. K. Angustifusus longiroster (Brocchi, 1814), height 36.0 mm, width 18.1 mm, unknown locality, LNEG collection (unnumbered). L. Fusinus nov. sp.?, height 51.0 mm, width 24.0 mm, Ponta do Norte lighthouse, LNEG collection (unnumbered).