Aurantilaria aurantiaca ( Lamarck, 1816 )

Lyons, William G. & Snyder, Martin Avery, 2019, Fasciolariidae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) of French Guiana and nearby regions, with descriptions of two new species and comments on marine zoogeography of northeastern South America, Zootaxa 4585 (2), pp. 239-268 : 243-244

Aurantilaria aurantiaca ( Lamarck, 1816)

( Figures 3–4 )

Fasciolaria aurantiaca Lamarck, 1816: 7 , pl. 430, figs. 1a, b; Kobelt, 1874: 59; Kobelt in Küster & Kobelt, 1876: 142 –144, pl. 29, figs. 1–5; Dall, 1897: 122; Dall, 1901: 143; Lange de Morretes, 1949: 99; Fausto-Filho et al., 1966: 127, 129; Matthews & Rios, 1967: 70; Kempf & Matthews, 1968: 93; Matthews, 1968: 248; Furtado-Ogawa, 1970: 194, 195; Rios, 1970: 95, 96, pl. 28, figs.; Testud, 1974: 211, 223; Matthews et al., 1977: 19; de Oliveira et al., 1981: 218; Matthews- Cascon et al., 1989: 357–361, figs. 1a–c, 2a–c, 5a–c, 7a–c; Snyder, 2003: 46; Finet & Snyder, 2012: 2 , 3, 18, figs. 1A-C (3 syntypes figured).

Fasciolaria (Pleuroploca) aurantiaca: Rutsch, 1934: 74 .

Fasciolaria (Fasciolaria) aurantiaca: Rios, 1975: 102 , 103, pl. 29, fig. 432.

Pleuroploca aurantiaca: Khomasurya, 1980: 1 , fig. 1; Rios, 1985: 106, pl. 36, fig. 466; Sutty, 1986: 64, 68, 69, pl. 75; Calvo, 1987: 149 –151, 176, 200, fig. 122; Petuch, 1987: 140; Mello & M. de L. Costa, 1994: 56, 61, fig. 3a; Rios, 1994: 132, pl. 42, fig. 565; Coltro & Coltro, 1997: 17; Mallard & Robin, 2005: 8, pl. 6; Pisor, 2005: 62; Robin, 2008: 207, figs. 11; Massemin et al., 2009: 153, 156, 157, figs.; Rios, 2009: 249, figs.; Petuch, 2013: 24, 187, fig. 2.7 D.

Aurantilaria auriantiaca: Snyder et al., 2012: 42 , 44, 46, 59; Mallard & Robin, 2017: 188 –190, figs. 1–7.

Types. 3 probable syntypes, 99.5, 62.7 & 42.0 mm, locality on label “? Australie ou Amérique Centrale,” MHNG INVE 51699 ( Finet & Snyder 2012: 2, 18, fig. 1A – C).

Material examined. French Guiana —1-dd, 116.0 mm (IM-2012-20357), GUYANE sta. SR-23 (Île Saint Joseph), 05°16.8’N, 52°34.9’W, 6–10 m, 0 4 Oct 2014; 1-dd, 131.9 mm, G0 sta. 16, 05°10.7’N, 51°03.8’W, 80–82 m, 19 Apr. 1999. St. Vincent-Grenadines— 1-lv, 133.9 mm, Savan Island , 18.3 m, LC. Grenada —1-lv, 60.0 mm, Hog Island, 1 m, LC; 1-dd, 85.1 mm, South Hog Island , 1.6 m, LC; 1-dd, 112.6 mm, “Grenada,” LC . Brazil —1-lv, 143.5 mm, off Bragança, Pará, 40–80 m, LC; 3-lv, 135.2–157.8 mm, 2-dd, 136.8 and 135.5 mm, off Belém, Pará, 30–40 m, LC; also 64 specimens lv and dd, 27.9–136.8 mm, from Amapá, Pará , Maranhão, Ceará, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Bahía, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, all ANSP and 136 specimens lv and dd, 9.7–211.1 mm, from Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Bahía and Espírito Santo, all LC .

Remarks. This species was known as Fasciolaria aurantiaca or Pleuroploca aurantiaca until designated as type species of Aurantilaria by Snyder et al. (2012).

Finet and Snyder (2012: fig. 1A–C) identified and figured as probable syntypes three specimens in the Lamarck collection at Geneva (MHNG INVE 51699). The two larger specimens (99.5 and 62.7 mm; fig. 1A, B) are of the species now known as A. aurantiaca , but the smallest specimen (42.0 mm; fig. 1C) is a juvenile shell of the Indo-West Pacific species Pleuroploca trapezium ( Linnaeus, 1758) .

Two specimens of Aurantilaria aurantiaca are contained in MNHN collections from French Guiana: a worn 116.0 mm shell from off Île Saint Joseph, depth of 6–10 m, and a 131.9 mm shell trawled dead from 80 m. The shell from Île Saint Joseph might have originated elsewhere, perhaps trawled offshore and later discarded, as bottom type in such shallows in the Guianas does not seem suitable for A. aurantiaca (see Discussion). The only other records from the Guianas are of two specimens from “French Guyana ” figured by Mallard and Robin (2005; 2017); Massemin et al. (2009) also reported two specimens from Guyane, but that report may be a repetition; the shell they figured was also figured by Mallard and Robin.

Although well-known in nineteenth century literature, authors mistakenly treated this taxon as an Old World species until its presence in Alagoas, Brazil was established by Kobelt (1874) and Kobelt in Küster and Kobelt (1876), soon to be confirmed by reports from Bahía and Pernambuco by Dall (1897; 1901). Lange de Morretes (1949) provided another report from Bahía, and several reports of the species in Ceará followed (e.g. Matthews & Rios 1967). Fausto-Filho et al. (1966) cited F. aurantiaca among the most characteristic mollusks at lobster banks off Ceará; Matthews (1968) documented young F. aurantiaca in stomachs of fish, Amphichthys cryptocentrus , from depths of 22–37 m off Fortaleza, Ceará; Furtado-Ogawa (1970) reported the incidence of juvenile F. aurantiaca in the lower intertidal zone of coastal hard substrate near Fortaleza; and Calvo (1987) noted its intertidal occurrence in Bahía.

Reports of Aurantilaria aurantiaca from northern Brazil (Amapá, Pará and Maranhão to Espírito Santo) are numerous (e.g. Kempf & Matthews 1968; Testud 1974; Matthews et al. 1977; de Oliveira et al. 1981; Matthews- Cascon et al. 1989; Mello & Costa 1994), and the species is also known from the Abrolhos Archipelago ( Petuch 1987). Aurantilaria aurantiaca was considered endemic to Brazil until Khomasurya (1980) documented occurrences at Carriacou and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Soon thereafter, Sutty (1986) reported specimens from St. Vincent, confirming the species’ occurrence in the southern Lesser Antilles, for which we provide additional records. Mallard and Robin (2005: pl. 6; 2017: 189, 190, figs. 2, 4) and Robin (2008: 207, fig. 11) labeled figured specimens as being from “Gulf of Mexico ” and “ Honduras,” but we consider those records doubtful. A map by Mallard and Robin (2017: 189) depicting a continuous range from northeastern Brazil through the western Caribbean to the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is similarly incorrect. We know of no credible records of A. aurantiaca from the Caribbean coasts of South and Central America or anywhere else north or west of the Lesser Antilles.

Massemin et al. (2009) characterized A. aurantiaca as rarely trawled in French Guiana and, apparently unaware of records from the Lesser Antilles, proposed that the species was at the northern limit of its range there. Likewise, we found no record of A. aurantiaca from Suriname or Guyana. Scarcity of the species in the Guianas may reflect scarcity of reefal habitat there. Sutty (1986: 64) reported that in the Grenadines the species is a reef dweller, favoring zones where currents are strong, waters clear and the fauna generally rich. Some other reports indicate an affinity for rocky bottoms and coral reefs (e.g. Fausto-Filho et al. 1966; Rios 1975; Kaicher 1978; Coltro & Coltro 1997), but the species also has been taken on sand bottoms. The Conquiliologistas do Brasil website reports the depth range of A. aurantiaca as 0–70 m, slightly less than the 80 m depth reported by Kempf and Matthews (1968) and confirmed herein.

Large sizes reported for A. aurantiaca include 150 mm ( Khomasurya 1980; Matthews-Cascon 1989), but the maximum size cited by the Coquiliologistas do Brasil website is 170 mm and the “world record size” is 211 mm ( Pisor 2005).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Guianas Fasciolariinae. 1–2. Fasciolaria guyanensis Lyons & Snyder, 2016, Paratype, 116.5 mm, CP4386, 05°38’N, 52°29.2’W, depth 46–47 m, MNHN IM-2013-56591. 3–4. Aurantilaria aurantiaca (Lamarck, 1816), 116.0 mm, Île Saint-Joseph, SR23, 05°16.8’N, 52°34.9’W, depth 6–10 m, MNHN IM-2012-20357.