Coralliophila pulchella (A. Adams, 1854)

Oliverio, Marco, 2008, Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 481-586 : 513-514

Coralliophila pulchella (A. Adams, 1854)

Figs 41, 42, 161

Rapana (Rhizochilus) pulchella Adams, 1854: 98 .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Syntypes BMNH 1984112 , three figured by Kosuge & Suzuki (1985: pl. 40, figs 4, 5) and Higo

et al. (2001: 66, G2402).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Philippines.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Coral Sea. CORAIL 2: stn DW 119, stn DW 692, Passe de Hienghène , 20°35’S, 164°59’E, 140-152 Plateau des Chesterfield, 19°25’S, 158°25’E, 56 m, 1 dd. m, 1 lv, 3 dd (Figs 41, 161) .

New Caledonia proper. LAGON: stn 830, Secteur de Poindimié , Norfolk Ridge. CHALCAL 2: stn DW 83, 23°20’S, 168°06’E, 20°49’S, 165°19’E, 105-110 m, 6 dd . — EXPÉDITION MON- 200 m, 1 dd (Fig. 42).

TROUZIER:stn 1312, Secteur de Koumac 20°40.4’S, 164°14.9’E, Loyalty Islands. CALSUB 1989: pl 9, W Lifou, 20°53’S, 26-40 m, 2 dd, 1 dd juv; stn 1316, 20°40’S, 164°11.2’E, 12 m, 167°03’E, 256 m, 1 dd . — LIFOU 2000: stn 1441, Lifou, Baie du 1 dd juv; stn 1318, 20°41’S, 164°14.8’E, 20-30 m, 3 dd juv; stn Santal, 20°46.4’S, 167°02.2’E, 20 m, 1 dd.

1319, 20°44.7’S, 164°15.5’E, 15-20 m, 1 dd juv. — BATHUS 1: Loyalty Ridge. MUSORSTOM 6: stn DW 473, 21°09’S,

167°55’E, 236 m, 1 dd. 13°21’S, 176°08’W, 415-420 m, 1 dd juv.

Fiji. MUSORSTOM 10: stn CP 1363, 18°12’S, 178°33’E, 144- Tonga. BORDAU 2: stn DW 1569, 21°02’S, 175°19’W, 433 m, 150 m, 1 dd. 1 dd.

Wallis and Futuna. MUSORSTOM 7: stn DW 604, Wallis Island,

DISTRIBUTION. — Indian Ocean: Natal, South Africa (Kosuge & Meyer 1999; Kosuge 2008) and Somalia ( MO, unpublished). Pacific Ocean: from Kii Peninsula, Japan, southward to the Philippines ( Higo et al. 1999), “rocky bottoms or coral reefs 20-50 m ” ( Tsuchiya 2000). Coral Sea , New Caledonia, Norfolk Ridge , Loyalty Islands, Loyalty Ridge , Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, live in 140-152 m, empty shells in 12-433 m. Range extension southward in the west Pacific .

REMARKS. — Protoconch, partly eroded, of 2.5+ conical whorls, 680+ Μm high, 710 Μm wide at the base. Protoconch- II with 2 spiral keels (the abapical one starting nearly 1 whorl before the adapical one), sculptured with a series of subsutural prosocline threads and a series of oblong tubercules over each keel. Coralliophila carolae D’Attilio & Myers, 1984 is very similar, differing only in subtle features (see below under C. carolae ).