Haedropleura contii ( Bellardi, 1877 )

Scarponi, Daniele, Bella, Giano Della & Ceregato, Alessandro, 2011, The genus Haedropleura (Neogastropoda, Toxoglossa = Conoidea) in the Plio – Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin, Zootaxa 2796, pp. 37-55 : 43

Haedropleura contii ( Bellardi, 1877)

Bela contii Bellardi, 1877: 149 , pl. 5, fig. 7.

Bela contii Ferrero Mortara et al., 1981: 74 , pl. 13, fig. 11 (holotype).? Haedropleura contii Glibert, 1954: 54 , pl. 6, fig. 14.

Haedropleura contii Bernasconi & Robba, 1984: 278 , pl. 3, fig. 1 (holotype).

Original description. [Distinguunt hanc speciem a Bel. septangulari (Mont.) sequentes notae:

Anfractus magis convexi: suturae magis profundae. - Costae longitudinales numerosiores, quatuordecim, minores, obliquae, non per omnes anfractus continuae: pars antica ultimi anfractus transverse striata; striae super costas longitudinales decurrentes. Long. 12 mm: Lat. 5 mm].

Type material. Holotype ( MSNT) Bellardi-Sacco Collection, catalogue number BS.011.06.003, from Zinola (Savona), figured by Ferrero Mortara et al. (1981, pl. 13, fig. 11) and Bernasconi & Robba (1984, pl. 3, fig. 1).

Type locality. Zinola (Savona), Italy.

Material examined. Type material only.

Distribution. Haedropleura contii is known with certainty only from the Early Pliocene of Italy ( Bernasconi & Robba 1984). Glibert (1954) reported three specimens from the Redonien (i.e., late Tortonian–early Zanclean; Neraudeau et al. 2003) of the Loire Basin ( France). Glibert’s material needs further investigation. The specimen he illustrated is similar to the type material, however, the protoconch, which in H. contii is a distinctive feature, is broken and cannot be compared.

Remarks. Haedropleura contii is an extremely rare species, and its intra-specific variability cannot be assessed (see Appendix 1). Indeed, since its description only one specimen has been found in the clay succession at Zinola, and probably three specimens in the Loire basin ( Glibert 1954). We refer to Bernasconi & Robba (1984) and Ferrero Mortara et al. (1981) for illustrations of the only known specimen. Bernasconi & Robba (1984) provided a thorough description of the type material, and here we highlight its characteristic features: shell with high spire and almost evenly convex whorls, decorated by 10–14 rounded ribs, each half the width wide of an interspace. Spiral threads visible on the last whorl but very faint on the spire. Protoconch of 3.5 eroded whorls, the tip small and the teleoconch transition marked by faint, narrow, axial folds. Aperture oval with a variced outer lip, interior smooth. Anal sinus wide and shallow.