Coralliophila candidissima, Oliverio, 2008

Oliverio, Marco, 2008, Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 481-586 : 491-492

Coralliophila candidissima n. sp.

Figs 9, 10, 151

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype (dd) MNHN 20184 and 11 paratypes MNHN 20185-20189 .

TYPE LOCALITY. — New Caledonia, Secteur de Touho , Récif Doiman, 20°35.1’S, 165°08.1’E, 15-20 m [EXPÉDITION MONTROUZIER: stn 1269] .

MATERIAL EXAMINED.— New Caledonia proper. EXPÉDITION Koumac , Grand Récif de Koumac, 20°40’- 20°40.6’S, 164°11.2’- MONTROUZIER:stn 1255, Secteur de Touho, 20°43’S, 165°08’E, 164°12.1’E, 55-57 m, 1 dd .

11 m, 1 dd juv; stn 1264, Lagon du Grand Récif Mangalia, Loyalty Islands. Lifou. LIFOU 2000: stn 1432, Baie du San- 20°44.54S, 165°15.9’E, 8 m, 1 dd (paratype MNHN 20186); stn tal, 20°53.5’S, 167°02.7’E, 12-32 m, 4 dd (paratypes MNHN 1269, Secteur de Touho, Récif Doiman, 20°35.1’S, 165°08.1’E, 20188, Fig. 151); stn 1434, 20°52.5’S, 167°08.1’E, 5-20 m 1 15-20 m, 6 dd (holotype MNHN 20184, Fig. 9 and 1 paratype dd; stn 1451, 20°47.3’S, 167°06.8’E, 10-21 m 1 dd; stn 1453, MNHN 20185, Fig. 10); stn 1271, Haut-Fond de Tié, 20°52.7’S, 20°54.6’S, 167°02.1’E, 21-30 m 1 dd; stn 1457, 20°46.8’S, 165°19.5’E, 5-25 m, 9 dd juv (4 paratypes MNHN 20187); stn 167°02.75’E, 5-10 m 1 dd; stn 1459, 20°47’S, 167°03’E, 55-80 1273, 20°50.4’S, 165°22.8’E, 20 m, 2 dd; stn 1331, Secteur de m, 1 dd (paratype MNHN 20189).

DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, in 8-55 m, empty shells only .

DESCRIPTION. — Shell small for the genus, height 9 mm, width 5 mm, thick, turriculate. Protoconch of 1.3 whorls, 360 Μm high and 550 Μm wide at the base. First whorl entirely covered by pustules, the remaining 0.3 whorls with very faint sinuous axial threads.

Teleoconch of 4.2 whorls. Spire high, conical, with flat sides, angled at the periphery, suture not incised. Body whorl nearly 1/2 total height, base constricted. Aperture subquadrangular. Outer lip finely crenulate. Inner lip sharply angled posteriorly, sinuous anteriorly, callous. Siphonal canal not very long, open; umbilicus closed with imbricate fasciole. Teleoconch sculpture of closely set spiral cords with minute, densely packed imbricate scaly spines. One major cord starting immediately after protoconch-teleconch boundary becoming the cord on the peripheral keel. Three cordlets on subsutural ramp and 1 cordlet visible below peripheral cord, at end of first whorl. Additional cordlets progressively appearing and gradually increasing in size. Five cords above aperture and a total of 9 cords and 16 cordlets, irregularly alternating on last whorl. Axial sculpture of 9 broad prosocline ribs per whorl.

Ground colour white, inside aperture bright white.

Animal and operculum unknown.

REMARKS. — This species is very similar to Coralliophila turrita Sowerby, 1888 from Mauritius (= Fastigiella squamulosa Pease, 1868 from “Paumotu”; see Johnson 1994), which has been recorded in the 20th and 21st centuries only by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985).

Among the type material of C. squamulosa Pease (lectotype ANSP 36702, paralectotype ANSP 391037) only the paralectotype still bears a partly broken and worn, reddish protoconch of more than 2 whorls, thus multispiral. The protoconch of topotypical material (from Tuamotu, in coll. J. Trondlé, La Force) is reddish, multispiral, with 3.5 whorls, clearly indicating a planktotrophic larval development. The holotype of C. turrita Sowerby (BMNH 1884.4.1.8.8) lacks most of the protoconch, yet the remaining less than 1 whorl, though severely eroded, is reddish.

Coralliophila candidissima differs principally in its different protoconch, which is paucispiral and always white. Furthermore, the entire shell is plain white with no trace of pink-lilac coloration either on the exterior or inside the aperture. The sculpture is slightly more scabrous in C. turrita , with all spiral cords of the same size. The main differences from C. costularis (Lamarck, 1816) (found sympatrically and syntopically) are the smaller maximum size of C. candidissima , its peculiar spiral sculpture with 3 stronger cords at the periphery, its paucispiral protoconch indicating non-planktotrophic development (possibly intracapsular), and the plain white colour of the entire shell.

ETYMOLOGY. — The epithet candidissima refers to the pure white coloration.