Kalloconus venulatus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792 )

Tenorio, Manuel J., Abalde, Samuel, Pardos-Blas, José R. & Zardoya, Rafael, 2020, Taxonomic revision of West African cone snails (Gastropoda: Conidae) based upon mitogenomic studies: implications for conservation, European Journal of Taxonomy 663 (663), pp. 1-89 : 60

Kalloconus venulatus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792)

Fig. 9 I–J

Conus venulatus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 695 .

Conus nivosus Lamarck, 1810: 278 .

Conus quaestor Lamarck, 1810: 281 .

Conus nivifer G.B. Sowerby I, 1833 : pl. 25, fig. 14, pl. 36, fig. 47, pls 56–57, fig. 84.

Kalloconus (Trovaoconus) josefiadeiroi Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2019a: 30 . syn. nov.

Conus venulatus – Monteiro et al. 2004: 80, pls 51, 53–58, pl. 52, figs 2, 4–5.

Material examined

Lectotype

Lectotype in MHNG 1107/69 . The type locality ‘ America’ (erroneous) is hereby corrected to Sal Rei, Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago.

Other material

CABO VERDE • 1 spec., 52.4 mm; Boa Vista Island, Ilhéu de Sal Rei ; 16º9ʹ56ʺ N, 22º55ʹ23ʺ W; 3 Jul. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KX263250 ; MNCN 15.05/80419 ( Fig. 9I) • 1 spec., 33.2 mm; Boa Vista Island, Praia Canto ; 16º11ʹ10ʺ N, 22º42ʹ28ʺ W; 20 Apr. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491590 ; MNCN 15.05/79907 ( Fig. 9J) • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Derrubado (bay West ); 16º13ʹ22ʺ N, 22º47ʹ41ʺ W; 29 Jun. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491546 ; MNCN 15.05/80396 • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Ponta Antónia ; 16º13ʹ24ʺ N, 22º46ʹ59ʺ W; 1 Jul. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491560 ; MNCN 15.05/80410 • 1 spec.; Maio Island, Lage Branca ; 15º18ʹ32ʺ N, 23º8ʹ17ʺ W; 31 Mar. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491531 ; MNCN 15.05/78774 • 1 spec.; Maio Island, Praia Real ; 15º19ʹ45ʺ N, 23º10ʹ40ʺ W; 2 Apr. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491535 ; MNCN 15.05/78812 • 1 spec.; Maio Island, Ponta do Pau Seco ; 15º15ʹ26ʺ N, 23º13ʹ17ʺ W; 3 Apr. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491539 ; MNCN 15.05/78859 • 1 spec., 26.5 mm, holotype of Kalloconus (Trovaoconus) josefiadeiroi ; Boa Vista Island, Praia do Canto-Baía das Gatas ; 0.3–3 m depth; MMM .

Geographical distribution

Boa Vista and Maio islands, Cabo Verde Archipelago. Also present in Santiago Island, where it is very scarce.

Conservation status in IUCN Red List

Least concern.

Remarks

This is the largest-sized cone snail endemic to the Cabo Verde Archipelago, where it is widely distributed in Boa Vista and Maio islands. There are occasional reports of its presence off Santiago Island as well ( Rolán 2005). Very variable in shell length and pattern, it has received a number of different names, which are all considered synonyms. Detailed populations genetic studies of the venulatus group ( Cunha et al. 2008) and more recent mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses ( Abalde et al. 2017a) indicate that despite the extreme phenotypic variability, all the populations scattered throughout the archipelago are members of one single species. This is also applicable to the recently introduced taxon K. josefiadeiroi , which is just a representative of the population of K. venulatus from Praia Canto, northeast coast of Boa Vista Island ( Fig. 9J) and is included in our phylogenetic study.