Gibbula (Magulus) ardens var. acutispira Bellini, 1903a: 23–24

Fasulo, Giuseppe, Duraccio, Sergio, Federico, Antonio & Crocetta, Fabio, 2019, The (almost) unknown Italian naturalist Raffaello Bellini (1874 - 1930): biography malacological publications, and status of his recent molluscan taxa, Zootaxa 4668 (3), pp. 343-369 : 351

Gibbula (Magulus) ardens var. acutispira Bellini, 1903a: 23–24 , fig. 4

( Fig. 3A )

Type locality: Mar Morto ( Miseno , Bacoli, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) .

Original description: “più acuta e più ristretta della precedente” [shell thinner than the previous— Gibbula ardens var. elata Scacchi—and with a more acute spire angle].

Material examined: shells and fragments labelled by Bellini “ Gibbula ardens V. Salis—Mar Morto presso il Capo Miseno [Mar Morto near Capo Miseno]” (MCCIC—drawer 145, not numbered) mostly belong to Steromphala adansonii (Payraudeau, 1826) ( Fig. 3B, C ). This material comes from the same type locality of Gibbula (Magulus) ardens var. acutispira Bellini, 1903a .

Remarks: having been instituted on the basis of insignificant morphological characteristics, we rank it infrasubspecific, and thus not available ( ICZN 2012: Art. 10.2, 45 .5, 45.6, glossary). This seems to be an overlooked taxon, never reported after its original description apart from Bellini (1929a) in the general overview of the marine mollusc species living in the Gulf of Naples. Taking into account the figure flanking its description ( Fig. 3A ), its peculiar shape, and the absence of the very similar Steromphala adriatica ( Philippi, 1844) in the area, we consider it a misidentification for S. adansonii , a nominal taxon that may comprise a complex of cryptic species ( Barco et al. 2013). This seems to be confirmed by: i) the misidentification reported above; ii) the absence of S. adansonii among the species listed by Bellini (1903a) from Mar Morto, despite being among the commonest taxa living in the area of description (authors’ unpublished data); iii) the fact that Bellini was generally unable to correctly identify several of the most common Mediterranean Trochidae (see also the two subsequent taxa).

Figures

FIGURE 3. A. Gibbula (Magulus) ardens var. acutispira. Original figure. B, C. Gibbula ardens. B. Shells from Mar Morto (Miseno, Bacoli). C. Original label handwritten by Bellini. MCCIC—drawer 145, not numbered. D. Gibbula umbilicaris var. acherusiae. Original figures. E. Trochocochlea castriotae. Original figures. F. Gibbula (Magulus) biasoletti. Shells from Lido di Venezia and original label handwritten by Bellini. MCCIC—drawer 189, not numbered.