Aleutijapelion mirandus, Mclean & Clark, 2023

Mclean, James H. & Clark, Roger N., 2023, Seven new genera and thirty-four new species of buccinoid gastropods (Neogastropoda: Buccinidae) from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Zootaxa 5351 (2), pp. 151-201 : 160

Aleutijapelion mirandus n. sp.

Figures 6 F–H

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Type locality: N of Amlia Island, Andreanof Ids., Aleutian Is. , Alaska (52°33.67 N, 173°20.36 W), 423 m ( NMFS 94-199401 - 72 ) .

Type material: Holotype, LACM 3664 , 74.4 mm. ( NMFS 94-199401 - 72 ) ; Paratypes: Pt 1, RNC 4007 , 1 sp. , 91.7 mm. E of Kiska Island , Rat Ids. (52°03.27 N, 177°49.83 E), 268 m ( NMFS 148-201801 - 141 ) .

Referred material: RNC 4639 , 1 sp. , 97.85 mm. N of Atka Island, Andreanof Ids. , Alaska (52°13.19 N, 174°55.03 W), 207 m ( NMFS 143-200401 - 91 ) .

Description: Shell relatively large, to 98 mm (RNC 4639) profile tall, slender, whorls rounded, shoulder above the level of suture; suture narrowly channeled (often eroded); periostracum thin, adherent, two-toned olive green to brown, not flaking in dry shells. Protoconch with 2.5 whorls, scarcely increasing in size; seven or eight teleconch whorls with axial sculpture lacking, spiral sculpture absent or consisting of a few weak (almost imperceptible), irregular cords on some whorls; apertural callus complete across anal sinus, parietal and columellar callus raised. Radula (fig. 6 H) Rachidian tooth simple plate-like, ovate. Lateral teeth rather narrow, tricuspid, the outer cusp long curved, inner two cusps much smaller.

Etymology: From the Latin, wonderful or strange.

Distribution: Endemic to the central Aleutian Islands, from Amlia Island, Andreanof Ids. (173°20 W) to near Kiska Island, Rat Ids. (177°50 E) at depths of 207– 423 m.

Habitat: Volcanic sand and pebbles, with a bottom temperature of 5°C.

Remarks: Resembles Aleutijapelion aleuticus but differs in 1) the taller, more slender profile, 2), narrower canal, and 3) narrow, channeled shoulder. Additionally, the rachidian tooth of the radula is ovate as opposed to chevron-shaped in A. aleuticus . Aleutijapelion mirandus also resembles the larger Japanese Metajapelion adelphicus (Dall,1907) (fig. 6 A), but differs in having a shorter broader canal, and lacks the narrow, shelf-like shoulder defined by a raised keel-like margin, and the low, even spiral ribs on the early whorls.

Figures

FIGURE 6. A. Metajapelion adelphicus (Dall, 1907) RNC 4967, Off Okinoshima Island, Japan, 182 m, 97.4 mm; B–E. Aleutijapelion aleuticus (Dall, 1895); B. Holotype, USNM 106999, Amutka Pass, 454 m, 65.0 mm; C. RNC 4772, S of Umnak Island, 86 m, 74.3 mm; D. Operculum of RNC 4772, 28 mm; E. Radula, RNC 4880, W of Carlisle Island, 228 m, bar = 100 µm; F–H. Aleutijapelion mirandus; F. Holotype, LACM 3664, N of Amlia Island, 423 m, 74.4 mm; G. RNC 5019, E of Kiska Island, 268 m, 91.7 mm; H. Radula, RNC 4639, S of Atka Island, 207 m, bar = 200 µm.