Hirtomurex winckworthi ( Fulton, 1930 )

Oliverio, Marco, 2008, Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 481-586 : 548

Hirtomurex winckworthi ( Fulton, 1930)

Fig. 218

Latiaxis winckworthi Fulton, 1930: 251 , figs 1, 1a.

Synonyms:

Latiaxis scobina Kilburn, 1973: 567 , fig. 9a.

Latiaxis translucidus Kosuge, 1981b: 88 , pl. 29, figs 1-3.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Latiaxis winckworthi : holotype BMNH 1931.7 .31.15, figured by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985: pl. 36, fig. 8) and Higo et al. (2001: 69 G2470) . — Latiaxis scobina : holotype NM 9950 , figured by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985: pl. 36, fig. 7), paratype NM 9996 . — Latiaxis translucidus : holotype IMT 81-4 [not seen], figured by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985: pl. 36, fig. 9, and pl. 22, fig. 4) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — L. winckworthi: Kii Peninsula (Gobō District, central Honshū, Japan) . — L. scobina : off Durban , South Africa, 147 m [80 fms] . — L.translucidus : Bohol Island , Philippines (about 200 m deep) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Indian Ocean. Off Djibouti, prawn Fiji. BORDAU 1: stn CP 1501, 18°40’S, 178°30’W, 350-357 m, fishing boats, 80-100 m, 1 dd ( MO). 1 lv (Fig. 218) .

East China Sea. Northeast of Taiwan, coral fishing boat (obtai- Tonga. BORDAU 2: stn CP 1510, 21°05’S, 175°23’W, 461-497 ned from dealer), 1 lv ( MO); Tosa Bay, Japan, 60 m, 1 lv ( MO). m, 1 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — Indo-West Pacific. Indian Ocean: South Africa to Somalia ( Kosuge 1993). Pacific Ocean: from Kii Peninsula ( Japan) to South China Sea and Philippines, “sand bottoms in 100-200 m ” (Tsuchiya 2000). Fiji, live in 350-357 m, and Tonga, empty shell in 461-497 m, range extension in the southwest Pacific.

REMARKS. — Southwest Pacific specimens lack the protoconch. The shells from Djibouti and off Taiwan, have protoconchs (2+ and 2.2 whorls, respectively) of the planktotrophic type .