Globivasum Abbott, 1950

Vermeij, Geerat J., 2024, Shell-based genus-level reclassification of the Family Vasidae (Mollusca: Neogastropoda), Zootaxa 5405 (4), pp. 526-544 : 531-532

Genus Globivasum Abbott, 1950

Type species. Vasum (Globivasum) globulum nuttingi ( Henderson, 1919) , = Turbinella globulus Lamarck 1816 ; by original designation, Recent, Caribbean Sea ( Figs 3A, B ).

Diagnosis. Shell broadly biconic, thick, solid; spire typically high (but relatively low in G. globulus ); shell relatively small, maximum length 75.5 mm (in Globivasum capitellus from Puerto Rico); sculpture consisting of high, long, rounded axial ribs, which often bear one or two rows of spines on upper part of last whorl; base with two or more spiral rows of nodules; spiral cords on central sector of shell high, narrow, not nodulose; umbilicus present; outer lip glazed at edge but not on abapertural side; inner side of outer lip with variably expressed spiral lirae, which form denticles near lip edge; columella with three folds; siphonal canal short, straight.

Included species. Globivasum aedificatum ( Guppy, 1876) , Late Miocene and Pliocene, Dominican Republic; G. cancellatum ( Grateloup, 1845) , Late Oligocene, France; G. capitellus ( Linnaeus, 1758) , southern Caribbean ( Figs 3C, D ); G. dominicense ( Gabb, 1873) , Early Miocene, Dominican Republic; G. elongatum (Vokes, 1970) , Early Miocene, Florida; G. globulus ( Lamarck, 1816) , Lesser Antilles; G. gurabicum ( Maury, 1917) , Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, Dominican Republic; G. humerosum ( Vaughan, 1896) , Late Eocene, Louisiana; G. intermedium ( Grateloup, 1832) , Early Miocene, southern Europe; G. kraatzi ( Ferreira & Cunha, 1957), Middle Miocene, Brazil; G. omanense ( Harzhauser, 2007) , Early Miocene, Oman; G. pugnus ( Pilsbry & Johnson, 1917) , Early Miocene, Dominican Republic; G. subcapitellum ( Heilprin, 1887) , earliest Miocene, Florida; G. suwanneense ( Petuch, 1997) , latest Eocene, Florida; G. whicheri ( Petuch, 2013) , Lesser Antilles.

Material examined. Globivasum capitellus CAS : Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico; Vermeij collection: Port Marie, Curaçao; Santa Cruzbaai, Curaçao; Piscadera Baai, Curaçao. G. globulus Vermeij collection: Antigua.

Remarks. In his monograph on western Atlantic Vasidae, Abbott (1950) recognized that the species Vasum capitellum is subgenerically distinct from other Caribbean species, but he assigned this species to the Australian taxon Altivasum . The genus Altivasum is morphologically quite different from the Caribbean species “ V.” capitellus and other related western Atlantic species. In the same monograph, Abbott (1950) proposed the subgenus Globivasum for a small species, globulus, from Antigua in the Lesser Antilles. Although this species would seem quite different from the larger, higher-spired “ V.” capitellus, Vokes (1966) (who synonymized Globivasum with Vasum ) recognized that “ V.” globulus and “ V.” capitellus both belong to a conservative lineage of vasids, which she placed in a broadly construed concept of Vasum . Although “ V.” globulus is a somewhat atypical species given its globose form and small size, the name Globivasum is nonetheless an appropriate taxon in which to bring together the extant G. capitellus , L. globulus , and G. whicheri (the latter from Anguilla) together with their fossil relatives.

The genus Globivasum differs from the tropical American genus Volutella by having long axial ribs that extend to the basal rows of spines, instead of very short ribs restricted to the adapical sector of the last whorl. The inner side of the outer lip is variably lirate in Globivasum , whereas it is smooth in most individuals of Volutella . Species of Volutella have four or five columellar folds compared with three in Globivasum . Species of Globivasum lack the adaperturally oriented scales or ribs of Altivasum , Aristovasum , Florivasum and Hystrivasum .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Globivasum globulus (Henderson, 1919), in dorsal (A) and apertural (B) views. Antigua, Vermeij Collection. Globivasum capitellus in dorsal (C) and apertural (D) views. Santa Cruzbaai, Curaçao, Vermeij Collection.