Conilithes Swainson, 1840

Psarras, Christos, Koskeridou, Efterpi & Merle, Didier, 2021, Late Miocene Conidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Crete (Greece). Part 1: genera Conilithes Swainson, 1840 and Conus (Kalloconus) da Motta, 1991, Geodiversitas 43 (24), pp. 1309-1339 : 1312-1313

Genus Conilithes Swainson, 1840

TYPE SPECIES (by monotypy). — Conus antidiluvianus Bruguière, 1792 . Early-middle Miocene of Paratethys (seeHarzhauser & Landau 2016 for detailed references), Tortonian of Italy (Sant’Agatha Fossili, Stazzano, Montegibbio [ Sacco 1893a]) and Greece (Ierapetra Basin, Crete, this work) to Pliocene of Italy ( Hall 1966; Janssen et al. 2014a, b) and other localities in France ( Biot), Sicily, Turkey ( Hatay Basin), and Syria (Erünal-Erentöz 1958; Janssen et al. 2014a).

DIAGNOSIS. — Biconic shell.Scalariform spire,angular,carinate shoulder, which often bears tubercles, but no spiral sculpture ( Tucker &Tenorio 2009). Subsutural flexures deep, strongly curved, moderately asymmetrical ( Harzhauser & Landau 2016). Beaded early teleoconch whorls. REMARKS

Based on our material, we show that the subsutural flexures are variable from shallow (e.g., Conilithes brezinae ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879)) to deep (e.g., mean SSFD of Conilithes herodus n. sp.). In addition, early teleoconchs whorls can be devoid of beads (e.g., Conilithes striatulus ( Brocchi, 1814)) and rarely species display beads on their last whorls (e.g., Conilithes sp. ). The stratigraphical range of the genus is Eocene to Pliocene of Europe (Proto-Mediterranean and Paratethys) and North America ( Harzhauser & Landau 2016).