Haedropleura

Scarponi, Daniele, Bella, Giano Della & Ceregato, Alessandro, 2011, The genus Haedropleura (Neogastropoda, Toxoglossa = Conoidea) in the Plio – Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin, Zootaxa 2796, pp. 37-55 : 47

Haedropleura sp. 1

Figs. 37–42 , 70–72

Material examined. Plio/Pleistocene – late Piacenzian/early Gelasian: Pieve Vecchia (Pisa), 43°29’57”N, 10°29’15”E, 5 sh.

Description. Shell small (max length 8.7 mm; see Appendix 1), elongate-fusiform, glossy, whitish. Protoconch entirely smooth, peg-like, paucispiral (of 1.3–1.5 whorls), with papillose tip and weakly convex, almost straight remaining half-whorl. Scattered punctate markings present just above suture. Protoconch average diameter 0.78 mm, SD= 0.02 mm and length 0.79 mm, SD= 0.02 mm, respectively (see Appendix 1). Transition to teleoconch marked by narrow sigmoid fold, faint wrinkles also present on some specimens. Teleoconch glossy when well preserved, white, of max. 5.2 whorls, with high, conical spire; whorl sides regularly convex over abapical whorl, slightly concave the remaining portion. Suture moderately deep, slightly undulated by rib-terminations. Aperture oblong with small parietal callus, present in all studied specimens. Columellar lip straight, thin. Outer lip incomplete on all available specimens, thin, backed by moderate varix, more pronounced in specimens with>5 teleoconch whorls. Anal sinus shallow but broad. Siphonal canal short, wide, without notch. Last whorl moderately to well-rounded with short neck. Axial sculpture consists of 9–10 narrow, rounded, opisthocline ribs along with wellmarked growth lines. Axial ribs on spire slightly curved, extending from suture to suture, subdued and pinched adapically, prominent on lower half of whorls; on last whorl, ribs low to obsolete, fading out at mid-whorl. Spiral sculpture consists of dense, close-set threads, wider on neck than higher up, not evident on spire whorls of all specimens.

Distribution. Haedropleura sp. 1 is known only from Orciano Pisano (late Piacenzian–early Gelasian).

Remarks. This morphotype shows all the principal characters of the genus Haedropleura . However, given the lack of specimens (only two in good condition), from a single locality, its intra-specific variability cannot be assessed adequately. Therefore, we refrain from instituting a new species until more specimens are available.

Figures

FIGURES 37 – 42. Haedropleura sp. 1 37 – 39, # 79, 40 – 42, # 77, Pieve Vecchia (Pisa), Piacenzian / Gelasian (Plio / Pleistocene). FIGURES 43 – 48. Haedropleura sp. 2 43 – 45, # 82, Stirone River (Parma) Gelasian (Pleistocene); 46 – 48, # 83, Codrignano (Bologna), Gelasian / Calabrian (Pleistocene). Scale bars 1 mm; # = shell number in Appendix 1.

FIGURES 64 – 75. SEM photographs of protoconch and of teleoconch details of fossil shells. SEM photos are apical and lateral views (scale bars = 0.1 mm). Details (right column) show ornamentation of last whorl of each shell between suture and aperture, corresponding to the sinus. FIGURES 64 – 66. Haedropleura formosa n. sp. 64 – 65, # 50 paratype, 66, # 46 holotype, Codrignano (Bologna), Calabrian (Pleistocene). FIGURES 67 – 69. H. parva n. sp. 67 – 68, # 65 paratype, 69, # 62 holotype, Poggio alla Staffa (Siena), Zanclean (Pliocene). FIGURES 70 – 72. Haedropleura sp. 1 70 – 71, # 81, 72, # 79, Pieve Vecchia (Pisa), Piacenzian / Gelasian (Plio / Pleistocene). FIGURES 73 – 75. Haedropleura sp. 2 73 – 74, # 84, Castell’Anselmo (Leghorn), Zanclean / Gelasian (Plio / Pleistocene); 75, # 82, Stirone River (Parma), Gelasian (Pleistocene). # = shell number in Appendix 1.