Coriophora lessepsiana Albano, Bakker & Sabelli, 2021

Albano, Paolo G., Steger, Jan, Bakker, Piet A. J., Bogi, Cesare, Bosnjak, Marija, Guy-Haim, Tamar, Huseyinoglu, Mehmet Fatih, LaFollette, Patrick I., Lubinevsky, Hadas, Mulas, Martina, Stockinger, Martina, Azzarone, Michele & Sabelli, Bruno, 2021, Numerous new records of tropical non-indigenous species in the Eastern Mediterranean highlight the challenges of their recognition and identification, ZooKeys 1010, pp. 1-95 : 1

Coriophora lessepsiana Albano, Bakker & Sabelli sp. nov. Figure 6

Type material.

Holotype. Egypt • sh; Sinai (Red Sea), Dahab, dive site "Blue Hole"; 28.572°N, 34.538°E; depth 4 m; 2017; H. Blatterer leg.; NHMW-MO-113282.

Paratypes. Egypt • sh; Sinai (Red Sea), Dahab, dive site “Tigerhouse”; 28.567°N, 34.533°E; depth 7 m; 2015; H. Blatterer leg.; OLML LIEV 2019/70/1 (paratype 1) • sh; Sinai (Red Sea), Dahab, dive site “Caves”; 28.416°N, 34.456°E; depth 20 m; 2017; H. Blatterer leg.; MNHN-IM-2014-7546 (paratype 2)

Sudan • sh; Arous, ca 30 km N of Port Sudan; 19.90°N, 37.23°E; depth 25-30 m; 2-8 Apr. 1975; G. Spada leg.; MZUB 60254 (paratype 3).

Additional material examined.

Egypt • 1 sh; Sinai (Red Sea), Dahab, dive site “Caves”; 28.416°N, 34.456°E; depth unspecified; 2012; H. Blatterer leg. • 1 sh; same collecting data as for preceding; depth 15 m; 2015 • 1 sh; same collecting data as for preceding; depth 14 m; 2017 • 1 sh; same collecting data as for preceding; depth 18 m; 2017 • 1 sh (juv.); Sinai (Red Sea), Dahab, dive site "Blue Hole"; floor of cave in cliff face; 28.57°N, 34.54°E; depth 25 m; Oct. 1994; D. Korkos leg.; H. Dekker coll. reg. no. 22017.

Records from the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel • 1 sh; west of Rosh HaNikra Islands; 33.0704°N, 35.0926°E; depth 12 m; 29 Oct. 2018; HELM project (sample S52_2M); NHMW-MO-112930/LM/0169; size: H 3.1 mm, W 1.2 mm (illustrated shell, Figure 6N, O ).

Diagnosis.

Shell cyrtoconoid of ~ 3 mm with 11 whorls and multispiral protoconch. Nucleus with hemispherical granules. Sculpture of three spiral cords of which two with elevated tubercles larger than their interspaces; second cord appearing later. Peristome apparently without bifurcating spiral cords.

Description.

Color: protoconch light brown; first teleoconch whorls whitish, with the first spiral cord becoming brown after one to three whorls. The second spiral cord acquires this brown color only on the dorsal part of the last whorl. The fourth cord, visible only on the last whorl, is brown. The base is light brown.

Dimensions: H 2.6 mm, W 1.0 mm (holotype); H 2.4 mm, W 0.9 mm (paratype 1); H 2.7 mm, W 1.1 mm (paratype 2, without apex); H 3.1 mm, W 1.2 mm (Mediterranean specimen, without apex).

Protoconch: multispiral with five whorls, H 530 µm (holotype), 553 µm (paratype 1).

Protoconch I: 1.5 whorls with hemispherical granules, nucleus height of 114 µm (holotype), 104 µm (paratype 1) and a maximum diameter of 154 µm (holotype), 145 µm (paratype 1).

Protoconch II: 3.5 monocarinated whorls with axial orthogonal riblets with a maximum diameter of 305 µm (holotype), 311 µm (paratype 1), 323 µm (paratype 2), 268 µm (Mediterranean specimen).

Teleoconch: 6 (holotype, paratype 1 and 2), 7.5 (Mediterranean specimen) whorls, height: 2.04 mm (holotype), 1.83 mm (paratype 1), 2.43 mm (paratype 2) and 2.95 mm (Mediterranean specimen).

The tuberculate first and third spiral cords start simultaneously after the protoconch with the same size, the third later becomes progressively larger and more acute. The second spiral cord appears only on the last whorl and is smaller than the others in front view, becoming of similar size to the first dorsally. In the second half of the last whorl, a very thin smooth suprasutural cord is visible. The base shows a fourth rather smooth cord of the same color as the first, followed by a fifth and sixth cord that are smooth and very pale in color. Anterior siphonal canal short, tubular, and oblique; posterior siphonal canal a simple notch. Peristome without microsculpture and apparently without bifurcating spiral cords.

The Mediterranean specimen is larger, has three white whorls after the protoconch and the second spiral cord appears on the seventh whorl, remaining still smaller than the others.

Etymology.

Named after the Lessepsian invasion ( Por 1978), because we first found this Red Sea species on the Mediterranean Israeli shelf. The species epithet is an adjective in nominative singular feminine.

Remarks.

The Mediterranean specimen is larger and broader than the Red Sea ones. Triphorids do show a morphological dimorphism characterized by smaller and larger morphs and we think that we captured this dimorphism in our samples. See under Opimaphora blattereri Albano, Bakker & Sabelli, sp. nov. for a comparison with similar species.

Figures

Figure 6. Coriophora lessepsiana Albano, Bakker & Sabelli, sp. nov. A-J holotype, NHMW-MO- 113282, dive site " Blue Hole ", Dahab, Sinai, Egypt: front (A, B), side (C, D) and back (E) views, nucleus (F), protoconch (G, H) and peristome (I, J) K, M paratype 1, OLML LIEV 2019 / 70 / 1, dive site " Tigerhouse ", Dahab, Sinai, Egypt: front (K), side (L) and back (M) views. N, O NHMW-MO- 112930 / LM / 0169, west of Rosh HaNikra Islands, Israel (Mediterranean), HELM project (sample S 52 _ 2 M): front (N) and side (O) views. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A-E, K-O); 0.1 mm (F); 0.2 mm (G, H); 0.3 mm (I, J).