Euspira macilenta (Philippi, 1844)

Huelsken, Thomas, Marek, Carina, Schreiber, Stefan, Schmidt, Iris & Mann, Michael Holl-, 2008, The Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Giglio Island (Tuscany, Italy): Shell characters, live animals, and a molecular analysis of egg masses, Zootaxa 1770, pp. 1-40 : 31-32

Euspira macilenta (Philippi, 1844) — Fig. 9 B

Natica macilenta Philippi, R.A. (1844) Enumeratio molluscorum Siciliae cum viventium tum in tellure tertiaria fossilium, quae in itinere suo observavit. Vol. 2, p. 140, pl. 24, fig. 14.

Natica macilenta Philippi, 1844 . Weinkauff (1867), p. 252; Hidalgo (1917), pp. 480, 488; Schiró (1977b), pp. 16–17, pl. 2 (second row)

Natica (Naticina) macilenta (Philippi, 1844) . Kobelt (1901), p. 92, pl. 52, figs. 13, 14

Lunatia macilenta (Philippi, 1844) . Sabelli & Spada (1977), p. 2, pl. 1, figs. 5 a–b; Terreni (1981), p. 31; Nordsieck (1982), p. 184, pl. 57, p. 405, fig. 62.26; De Smit & Bàba (2001), p. 98

+ Lunatia macilenta rizzae (Philippi, 1844) . Nordsieck (1982), p. 184, pl. 57, fig. 62.27

Description

Size: Up to 9.1 mm m.o.d (Torre Vieja, Muricia, Spain; MHC#070908.1). Specimen (n = 1) from Giglio Island: 10 mm height; 8 mm width. Ratio [h/w] = 1.2. Aperture approximately 67% of shell height. General shape: High spired, conical, 4.25 spiral whorls [teleoconch: 2.75]. Sculpture: None.

Shell color: Glossy, white to cream background color with indistinct irregular, reddish-brown, vertical flames distributed over entire shell; indistinct broad, whitish band directly below suture, marked with brown flecks; another lighter band around middle of body whorl, interrupted by a few of the vertical brown lines, bent into indistinct arrowhead shape; basal area including most of umbilical border white.

Protoconch: Uncolored, whitish; 1.5 embryonal whorls.

Aperture & outer lip: Aperture half-moon shaped, oblique, angled at the top and well-rounded at the bottom; external lip simple, sharp; inner lip tinged with brown.

Umbilical area: Deep, whitish umbilicus, with a carved-out umbilical canal or furrow inside; no funicle evident; parietal callus uncolored at the top, turning brown towards the columellar callus, callus covering the umbilical area triangularly at the top, tapering sharply towards midpoint of columellar, leaving the anterior umbilical area open;

Operculum: Corneous, honey-colored (Schiró 1977, MHC#070908.1).

Animal: Unknown.

Differential diagnosis: This species is the most slender naticid in the Mediterranean. Its color pattern and slender form as well as the carved-out umbilical canal serve to distinguish it from E. nitida and E. guillemini (Payraudeau, 1826) , the latter of which has not been found on Giglio Island.

Geographical distribution

Giglio Island:One empty shell was collected at Pt. del Morto (6) in 38 m depth in coarse sand. General distribution: E. macilenta is spread throughout the western Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern part except for the Aegean Sea and some other limited zones ( Settepassi 1972, Schiró 1977). The species is rather uncommon.

Figures

FIGURE 9: A, Euspira nitida (Donovan, 1804); B, Euspira macilenta (Philippi, 1844). Further details as in Figure 3. Scale bars represent 0.5 cm.