Murexsul Iredale, 1915

Houart, Roland & Héros, Virginie, 2012, New species of Muricidae (Gastropoda) and additional or noteworthy records from the western Pacific, Zoosystema 34 (1), pp. 21-37 : 26-27

Genus Murexsul Iredale, 1915

TYPE SPECIES (by original designation). — Murex octogonus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 , Recent, New Zealand.

Murexsul merlei Houart & Héros, 2008 ( Figs 4 F-I; 5A)

Murexsul merlei Houart & Héros, 2008: 454 , fig. 4E-G.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype (dd) MNHN 20006 .

NEW MATERIAL EXAMINED (all MNHN). — Coral Sea (new record). EBISCO: stn DW2564, NW Bellona, 20°25’S, 158°41’E, 333-386 m, 1 dd. — Stn DW2617, Lansdowne, 20°06’S, 160°22’E, 427-505 m, 1 dd. — Stn DW2632, S Lansdowne, 21°05’S, 160°45’E, 297-378 m, 1 lv ( SEM of the radula, Fig. 5A ). — Stn CP2640, 20°46’S, 160°58’E, 300-319 m, 1 lv, 1 dd ( Fig. 4 F-I). Vanuatu (new record). MUSORSTOM 8: stn DW967, 20°19’S, 169°53’E, 295-334 m, 1 dd.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Tonga, N Ha’apai group, 19°03’S, 174°19’W, 523-806 m [ BORDAU 2: stn DW1595].

DISTRIBUTION. — Tonga, Fiji, Coral Sea, and Vanuatu, living in 314-319 m, empty shells in 319- 523 m. Murexsul merlei was previously known from the holotype and 2 paratypes, described from Tonga and Fiji, dredged alive at 314- 377 m. The bathymetric range in Coral Sea for living specimens is similar to that recorded in Fiji.

REMARKS

The colour of the Coral Sea material is similar to that of the holotype, having the protoconch and the first teleoconch whorl light brown and the tip of the siphonal canal dark brown. The shell from Vanuatu is 19 mm in height, while the largest shell examined from Tonga (holotype) is only 14.6 mm in height.

The radula ( Fig. 5A ) was not previously illustrated and is typical for the muricopsine subfamily with a short central projecting cusp, two long lateral denticles situated between the central and lateral cusps, and short marginal cusps.

Figures

FIG. 5. — A, radula of Murexsul merlei Houart & Héros, 2008; B, radula of Scabrotrophon inspiratum Houart, 2003; C, radula of Scabrotrophon maltzani (Kobelt & Küster, 1878), Alaska, Tutka Bay, intertidal, coll. RH; D, radula of Scabrotrophon undocostata (Golikov & Sirenko, 1992), Kurile Islands, Simushir Island, 47°02’N, 152°15’E, 150 m, coll. RH. Scale bar: C, 100 µm.