Neoperrona, Harzhauser & Landau & Janssen, 2022

Harzhauser, Mathias, Landau, Bernard & Janssen, Ronald, 2022, The Clavatulidae (Gastropoda, Conoidea) of the Miocene Paratethys Sea with considerations on fossil and extant Clavatulidae genera, Zootaxa 5123 (1), pp. 1-172 : 98

Genus Neoperrona nov. gen.

Type species. Perrona harzhauseri Kovács & Vicián, 2021 ; Middle Miocene , Langhian (Badenian), Hungary, Central Paratethys Sea .

Etymology. Combination of Neo - (Greek: new) and Perrona .

Diagnosis. Large, solid, slender fusiform shell with high conical spire and low last whorl with short to moderately long siphonal canal. Early teleoconch whorls flat-sided with tripartite sculpture of weak, faintly beaded subsutural spiral cord and beaded suprasutural cord, separated by canaliculated mid-portion. Later teleoconch whorls nearly flat-sided with well-developed subsutural collar and suprasutural cord of equal strength, separated by canaliculate concavity. Last whorl with poorly developed to tubercular shoulder, with irregular spirals below, most strongly developed over mid-whorl and base, siphonal canal short to moderate length.

Description. Moderately large, slender fusiform with very high spire; apical angle ~30–35°. Protoconch of about two smooth convex whorls. Teleoconch of up to11 whorls. Early teleoconch whorls flat-sided, with tripartite sculpture; weak, faintly beaded subsutural spiral cord, beaded suprasutural cord, separated by concavity filled by smooth, flattened central cord. Mid-spire subsutural cord becomes swollen to form broad, smooth, sharply delimited collar, central cord remains narrow, suprasutural beads weaken leaving broad, smooth to vaguely tubercular rounded cord above suture. Suture narrowly impressed, linear. Last whorl about 50–55% of total height; with broad subsutural collar. Subsutural ramp not well-defined, with smooth, narrow, low, rounded cord. Shoulder not developed, evenly rounded at periphery, moderately strongly constricted at base. Siphonal fasciole weakly swollen, narrow. culpture of irregular spirals below shoulder. Aperture moderately narrow to moderately wide, ovoid. Outer lip thin, smooth within. Anal sinus moderately deep, narrow to moderately wide, asymmetrically U-shaped. Siphonal canal moderately short to long. Columellar and parietal callus thickened, sharply delimited, forming moderately broad callus rim.

Stratigraphic and geographic range. Neoperrona harzhauseri and N. zoltanorum both derive from Letkés in Hungary, representing middle Miocene (Badenian, Langhian) occurrences in the Central Paratethys. The distribution in the Proto-Mediterranean Sea is documented by Neoperrona taurinensis ( Bellardi, 1877) from the middle Miocene (Langhian) of the Colli Torinesi ( Italy).

Included species. Central Paratethys Sea: Perrona harzhauseri Kovács & Vicián, 2021 , Neoperrona zoltanorum nov. sp.. Proto-Mediterraean Sea: Clavatula taurinensis Bellardi, 1877 .

Paleoenvironment. Inner neritic environments with corals ( Kovács & Vicián 2013).

Discussion. Neoperrona nov. gen. is superficially reminiscent of a slender Perrona Schumacher, 1817 , such as Perrona oliviae ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1891) . Consequently, its type species was placed in Perrona by Kovács & Vicián (2021). The tripartite sculpture of early teleoconch whorls, however, differs fundamentally from Perrona , which has comma-shaped riblets. Clavatula and Clavatula -like groups discussed above do not develop a canaliculate mid-portion like Neoperrona . Moreover, Clavatula develops a swollen and more or less tuberculate subsutural collar. Finally, the slender fusiform shell and the high conical spire and very low last whorl separate Neoperrona from Clavatula , which is broader, and in which the last whorl accounts for more than 60% of the total height. Thus, Neoperrona differs from other clavatulid genera and species-groups recognized herein by having a proportionately higher spire and shorter last whorl.

Neoperrona is morphologically close to ‘ Clavatula ’ taxea and ‘Clavatula’ tripartita concerning the slender outline. The taxea- clade, however, is characterized by early teleoconch whorls with numerous spiral cords and lack beaded adsutural cords.