Coralliophila clathrata (A. Adams, 1854)

Oliverio, Marco, 2008, Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 481-586 : 505-506

Coralliophila clathrata (A. Adams, 1854)

Fig. 28

Rapana (Rhizochilus) clathrata A. Adams in H. & A. Adams 1854 [in 1853-58]: 97.

Synonym:

Coralliobia sugimotonis Kuroda, 1931: 316 , pl. 1, figs 5-7.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Rapana clathrata : lectotype (Robertson 1980: 8, figs 8, 9) BMNH 1882.12 .6.73, figured by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985: pl. 46, fig. 4) . — Coralliobia sugimotonis : not found.

TYPE LOCALITY. — R. clathrata : Philippines (Robertson 1980). — C. sugimotonis: Okinoshima, Tosa Bay, Japan.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — New Caledonia proper. Loyalty Islands. LIFOU 2000:stn 1420, 20°47.7’S, 167°09.35’E, EXPÉDITION MONTROUZIER: stn 1273, Secteur de Touho , 4-5 m, 1 dd (Fig. 28) .

20°50.4’S, 165°22.8’E, 20 m, 1 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — Indo-Pacific. Indian Ocean: Natal (Barnard 1969: 637, fig. 17c, as Coralliophila sp. ; Kilburn 1972; Kosuge & Meyer 1999), Mozambique (Kilburn 1977), Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Maldive Islands (Robertson 1980). Pacific Ocean: from Kii Peninsula ( Japan) southward to the Great Barrier Reef, through the tropical Pacific, from Papua New Guinea to the Marquesas Islands (Robertson 1980; Tsuchiya 2000). New Caledonia, shells only in 5-20 m.

REMARKS. — Protoconch, partly eroded, of 3.5+ whorls, 650+ Μm high and 780 Μm wide at the base, congruent with Robertson’s (1980) data of 4 whorls 700 Μm high. Protoconch-II with two spiral keels, sculptured with a series of subsutural nodulose threads and a series of similar threads over each keel. Threads tending to fuse, giving rise to collabral riblets at the end of the larval shell. Robertson (1980) recorded its association with the zoanthid Palythoa Lamouroux, 1816 , observing digested nematocysts in the feces, yet no digested zooxanthellae.