Ocenebra cf. erinaceus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Bouchard, Blanche, Wesselingh, Frank P., Pouwer, Ronald & Landau, Bernard, 2025, The Gelasian gastropod fauna of Selsoif (Manche, France), Geodiversitas 47 (3), pp. 39-91 : 74

Ocenebra cf. erinaceus ( Linnaeus, 1758) ( Fig. 12E 1-E 3 )

cf. Murex erinaceus Linnaeus, 1758: 753 .

cf. Ocinebra erinacea – Harmer 1914: 124, pl. 12, figs 12-14.

cf. Ocenebra erinaceus – Landau et al. 2003 26, pl. 7, figs 1-4. — Raad et al. 2021: 12, figs 1-2.

For more, see synonymy list in Landau et al. (2003).

MATERIAL AND DIMENSIONS. — Maximum height 9.0 mm, width 4.3 mm. — RGM.1364928 (1), leg. WG .

SPECIES CHARACTERISATION. — Small biconic shell. Two smooth protoconch whorls with large bulbous first whorl. Three convex teleoconch whorls separated by an impressed suture. Sculpture on spire whorls of two spiral cords and around ten ribs. Last whorl with six primary cords, shoulder cord appears on second half of last whorl and secondaries intercalated in interspaces; long, narrow siphonal canal.

DISTRIBUTION. — Lower Pleistocene: Atlantic, Selsoif, NW France (this paper). The oldest stratigraphic record of Ocenebra erinaceus is from Atlantic Pliocene deposits of the Guadalquivir Basin, Spain ( Landau et al. 2007, 2011) and western ( Martinell & Marquina 1981) and central Mediterranean ( Chirli 2000). — In the Upper Pliocene it is present in the Mondego Basin of Portugal ( Silva 2001) and is widespread in the Mediterranean. Today it occurs from the southern British Isles to the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands and entire Mediterranean ( Houart 2001).

REMARK

We attribute the specimen with some hesitation to Ocenebra erinaceus ( Linnaeus, 1758) ; it is represented by a single juvenile specimen that differs from the many juveniles of Nucella lapillus ( Linnaeus, 1758) in having a larger, more elevated protoconch with a more bulbous first whorl, the teleoconch is more slender and the axial sculpture stronger than in N. lapillus . This single juvenile could represent Ocenebra erinaceus ( Linnaeus, 1758) , but further specimens would be required to confirm its identity.

Figures

FIG. 12. — Gastropods from Selsoif. All illustrated specimens are collected from the Sablière du Grand Marais, Selsoif, France and come from the Early Pleistocene Saint-Nicolas de Pierrepont Formation (continuation): A, Tritia reticulata (Linnaeus, 1758), RGM.1310337, leg AWJ, H = 9.34 mm; B, Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758), RGM.1365267, leg AWJ, H = 7.3 mm; C, Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758), RGM.1365290, leg ACJ, H = 5.07 mm; D, Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758) RGM.1405529, leg R. van Slageren, H = 15.1 mm; E, Ocenebra cf. erinaceus (Linnaeus, 1758), RGM.1364928, leg WG, H = 5.74 mm; F, Mangelia sp., RGM.1365293, leg ACJ, H = 3.5 mm; G, Propebela aff. turricula (Montagu, 1803), RGM.1365291, leg AWJ, H = 4.14 mm; H, Cyrillia linearis (Montagu, 1803), RGM.1365215, leg ACJ, H = 5.8 mm. Scale bars: A-C, E, H, 2 mm; D, 5 mm; F, G, 1 mm.

FIG. 1. — Simplified geological map of the Normandy region (after Dugué et al. 2000 and Pareyn 1987) showing the location of Selsoif:1, Precambrian-Palaeozoic basement; 2, Permo-Mesozoic Paris Basin fill; 3, Neogene-Quaternary subbasins.

FIG. 3. — Simplified biographic map of South-West of Europe (after Landau et al. 2011).