Trophonopsis polycyma Kuroda, 1953

Houart, Roland & Héros, Virginie, 2008, Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Fiji and Tonga, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 437-480 : 466

Trophonopsis polycyma Kuroda, 1953

Fig. 5I

Trophonopsis polycyma Kuroda, 1953: 187 , fig. 1.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fiji. BORDAU 1: stn DW 1486, 19°01’S, 178°26’W, 395-540 m, 2 lv (Fig. 5I), 20 dd; stn DW 1488, 19°01’S, 178°25’W, 500-516 m, 53 dd .

DISTRIBUTION. — Japan: Sagami Bay , the sea of Enshu-nada, Kii Peninsula (Tsuchiya 2000); Fiji (new record), live in 395-540 m.

REMARKS. — Trophonopsis polycyma was recorded previously by Houart (1985: 246) from Mayotte and Madagascar in the southwestern Indian Ocean. However, we have now found that there are a small number of consistent differences between the Fijian and Indian Ocean specimens, which has led to a reexamination of the entire material, and it is concluded that the Indian Ocean specimens represent a distinct, unnamed species with more numerous axial lamellae, a more globose last teleoconch whorl and more obvious spiral sculpture. Trophonopsis polycyma was not previously recorded from the Fiji archipelago.