Kermia producta ( Pease, 1860 )

Kilburn, Richard Neil, 2009, Genus Kermia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Conoidea: Conidae: Raphitominae) in South African waters, with observations on the identities of related extralimital species, African Invertebrates 50 (2), pp. 217-217 : 231-232

Kermia producta ( Pease, 1860)

Figs 39–45

Clathurella producta: Pease 1860: 143 ; Von Martens & Langkavel 1871: 2, pl. 1, fig. 3; Tryon 1884: 298, pl. 19, fig. 63; Kay 1965: 19, pl. 2, figs 3, 4 (lectotype). Type locality: Sandwich Is [Hawaii].

Kermia producta (Pease) : Kay 1979: 361, fig. 118M.

Defrancia mauritiana Sowerby, 1893: 491 , pl. 38, figs 23, 24. Type locality: Mauritius. Syn. n.

Clathurina foraminata pyrgodea Melvill, 1917:186 , pl. 10, fig.13; Trew 1987: 60. Type locality: Mussandam, Persian Gulf, 55 fath. [- 101 m]. Syn. n.

Kermia foraminata pyrgodea (Melvill) : Powell 1966, pl. 22, fig. 2 (after Melvill 1917).

Type material: Clathurella producta : lectotype (designated by Kay 1965) BMNH 1962761 . D. mauritiana : holotype BMNH 1893.8 . 18.10, don. G.B. Sowerby. C. foraminata pyrgodea : holotype BMNH 1925.3 .12.5. Regional locality data: SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: between Kosi Bay and Bhanga Neck, - 13 m, sand (D. Herbert; NMSA S3006 ) , same locality, ca - 8 m (D. Herbert & K. Bloem; NMSA S771 ) ; off Boteler Point , - 70 m, coral rubble (R. Kilburn et al.; NMSA E5727 ) ; Aliwal Shoal, off Umkomaas , - 25– 28 m (D. Herbert; NMSA S9894 ) . Eastern Cape: Mzamba , beach drift (J.P. Marais; NMSA A5295 ) .

Distribution: Hawaii and Polynesia to Red Sea, Mauritius, Mozambique and eastern South Africa.

Remarks: K. producta belongs to a highly problematic complex of taxa, much confused in the literature. Examination of the relevant types and fresher samples from various localities leads me to propose the synonymy given above. Comparison of types of D. mauritiana ( Fig. 40 ) and C. foraminata var. pyrgodea ( Fig. 41 ) shows them to be conspecific, and Clathurella producta ( Fig. 39 ) to have been based on a slightly worn specimen of the same species. Although D. mauritiana was synonymised with Kermia tessellata ( Hinds, 1843) by Hedley (1922), Powell (1966) and Cernohorsky (1978), the extant types differ as follows: those of D. mauritiana (and C. foraminata pyrgodea ) differ from K. tessellata ( Clavatula tessellata Hinds, 1843: 44 , syntype BMNH 1879.2.26.82 ex Lombe Taylor coll.—presumably not the figured type (Hinds 1844: 23, pl. 7, fig. 11) as it is worn and broken) in their shouldered whorls, finer sculpture, flatter outer lip and strongly contracted base ( Fig. 48 ). Two similar but evidently distinct species are Kermia apicalis (Montrouzier in Souverbie, 1861) and Kermia daedalea (Garrett, 1873) . Of these, the former, according to the holotype of Pleurotoma apicalis in MHNB ( Figs 46, 47 ), has non-shouldered whorls and a less contracted base than K. producta . K. daedalea is discussed below.

Figures

Figs 39–45. Kermia producta (Pease, 1860): (39) lectotype of Clathurella producta, BMNH 1962761, 7.2×2.6 mm; (40) holotype of Defrancia mauritiana Sowerby, 1893, BMNH 1893.8.18.10, 10.5×3.8 mm; (41) holotype of Clathurina foraminata pyrgodea Melvill, 1917, BMNH 1925.3.12.5, 11.8×3.9 mm; (42, 43) specimen NMSA S771 from between Banga Neck and Kosi Bay, apertural and side views, 4.2×1.7 mm; (44, 45) specimen NMSA E5727 from off Boteler Point, apertural and side views, 4.2×1.4 mm.

Figs 46–49. Some Kermia species: (46, 47) K. apicalis (Montrouzier in Souverbie, 1861), holotype of Pleurotoma apicalis, MHNB, Art I., New Caledonia, apertural and side views, length 8.9 mm (negative courtesy of D. Herbert); (48) K. tessellata (Hinds, 1843), syntype of Clavatula tessellata, BMNH 1879.2.26.82, Strait of Macassar (Makassar), 10 fath. [-18 m], apertural view, 6.9×2.3 mm; (49) K.margaritifera (Reeve, 1846), syntype of Pleurotoma margaritifera, BMNH 74.10.31.8, loc. unknown, apertural view, 6.8×2.5 mm.