Paradentalium danielleae, Scarabino & Scarabino, 2010

Scarabino, Victor & Scarabino, Fabrizio, 2010, A new genus and thirteen new species of Scaphopoda (Mollusca) from the tropical Pacific Ocean, Zoosystema 32 (3), pp. 409-423 : 411

Paradentalium danielleae n. sp. ( Fig. 1E, F)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Wallis Island. MUSORSTOM 7, stn DW 583, 13°11’S, 176°14’W, 330-365 m, 1 lv holotype ( MNHN 22773 ) ; 2 lv, 1 dd paratypes ( MNHN 22774 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Wallis Island, 13°11’S, 176°14’W, 330-365 m (MUSORSTOM 7, stn DW 583).

ETYMOLOGY. — Named after Danielle Plaçais, a volunteer at MNHN, in recognition for her careful sorting of many expedition samples.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Only type material known.

DISTRIBUTION. — Wallis Island. Live at 330 m.

DESCRIPTION

Shell 37.2 mm long, solid, polished, translucent white, slightly curved.Six smooth, slim primary ribs, the most evident on the dorsal axis, 2 in dorso-lateral positions and the other 3, less evident, ventrally positioned. Intercostal spaces smooth, straight on posterior third of shell to convex anteriorly.Secondary ribs appear close to apex and all vanish in varying degrees towards the oblique anterior aperture, dorsal sculpture remaining longer while the ventral sculpture vanishes completely. Apex simple, anterior shell section roughly circular with vestige of dorsal rib. Measures of holotype: L 37.2, W 2.4-2.6, w 0.6, arc 2 at 14.5 from apex.

REMARKS

The characteristic distribution of the ribs of P.danielleae n. sp. approaches that of P. rudoi Scarabino 1995 , from the western Indian Ocean and P. kabati Scarabino, 2008 , from Vanuatu. The main differences (summarized in Table 1) include colour, arc, distance of arc from apex and anterior apertures.

Family FUSTIARIIDAE Steiner, 1991