Boissevainia mossiae, 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 : 420

Boissevainia mossiae n. sp.

( Fig. 4 I-L)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Fiji. MUSORSTOM 10, stn CP 1341, Bligh Water , 16°53’S, 177°44’E, 500-614 m, 1 dd holotype ( MNHN 22798 ) ; 3 dd paratypes ( MNHN 22799 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Fiji, Bligh Water, 16°53’S, 177°44’E, 500-614 m (MUSORSTOM 10 stn CP 1341).

ETYMOLOGY. — Named after Mauricette Bourgeois (aka Mossi), a volunteer at MNHN, who has carefully sorted numerous molluscs samples.

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fiji. MUSORSTOM 10, stn CP 1316, Bligh Water, 17°15’S, 178°22’E, 478- 491 m, 1 dd. — Stn CP 1341, Bligh Water, 16°53’S, 177°44’E, 500-614 m, 6 dd.

Vanuatu. MUSORSTOM 8, stn DW 1072, 15°40’S, 167°20’E, 622-625 m, 10 dd.

Solomon Islands. SALOMON 2, stn CP 2182, 08°47’S, 157°38’E, 762-1060 m, 3 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. Shells at 491- 762 m.

DESCRIPTION

Shell medium in size, regularly curved, gradually tapering, and polished white, anterior area of shell translucent.Outline irregular as a result of prominent growth lines. Sculptured by 32 thin longitudinal striae at the apex, vanishing towards the anterior aperture. Apical section slightly laterally compressed and with an undulate outline due to 2 wide, flat, round-edged, lateral lobes and thick dorsal and ventral triangular lobes. Preapical callus thick near apex and reinforcing the dorsal and ventral lobes of the lumen walls, resulting in a canoe-shaped appearance. Lumen slightly laterally compressed.

Radula: unknown.

Measurements of holotype: L 7.5, W 0.8-0.7, w 0.3, arc 0.6 at 3.4 from apex.

REMARKS

Boissevainia mossiae n. sp. bears a resemblance to Pulsellum eborascence (Watson, 1879) from Northern Australia, for which a lectotype 5 mm long was selected by Lamprell &Healy (1998:1444) ( BMNH 1887.2.9.69) and here examined.However, the latter is more tapering, with the arc situated anteriorly, the striae are finer and more numerous, and the apex is simple, resembling that of Striopulsellum .