A new deepwater species of Benthonellania from the Caribbean (Gastropoda: Rissoidae)

3 Pages·1991·1.7 MB·English

APEX 6(2): 51-53, septembre 1991. A new Benthonellania R.G. Moolenbeek & M.J. Faber
A new deepwater species ofBenthonellania firom the Caribbean
(Gastropoda: Rissoidae)*
Robert G. MOOLENBEEK & Marien J. FABER
Zoôlogisch MuséumAmsterdam (University ofAmsterdam),
P.O. Box4766, NL-1009 AT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
ABSTRACT. Benthonellania donmoorei n.sp. is described from deep water off Barbados and
neighbouring islands. Rissoa listera Dali, 1927 is figured forthe first time.
RESUME. Benthonellania donmoorei n.sp., espèce d'eau profonde est descrite de l'île de la
Barbadeet des îles avoisinantes. Rissoa listera Dali, 1926 est figurée pour lapremière fois.
KEYWORDS: Gastropoda, Rissoidae, Benthonellania Caribbean, deepwater.
,
INTRODUCTION andGuadeloupe. Inail samplestheunknownrissoid
The taxonomy of marine micromolluscs of the was présent. Recently, ROMER & MOORE (1988)
West Indies is still in needofresearch. Inparticular, described a new deep water Alvania species which
speciesfromdeeperwatersareratherunknown,des- atfirstsightwasverysimilartoourunknownrissoid.
pite the well known dredgings made as early as in It was namedAlvania (Alvania) colombiana Romer
theend ofthe 19th century by the "Challenger" and & Moore, 1988 from off the west coast of Florida
the "Blake" ( WATSON, 1886; DALL, 1889 ). (USA) in about 107 mdepth and alsorecordedfrom
In 1964, Dr. P. Wagenaar Hummelinck, with as- severalotherWestIndianlocalities. Fortunately,our
sistance of the Bellairs Institute collected some samplefromGuadeloupecontainedbothtaxa,which
,
samples off Barbados (90-200 m) which contained convinced us that they represent two différent
interesting gastropods several ofwhich appeared to species. We do not agrée with ROMER & MOORE
be undescribed ( COOMANS & FABER 1984). (1988) who consider their species to be a trueAlva-
Amongst them was an unknown rissoid, which nia s.str. species (type species Alvania europea
showed some affinity to Rissoa xanthias Watson, Risso, 1826 = Turbo cimex Linné, 1758). In our
1886. In 1989, an additional sample was received opinion thèse speciesbelong to Benthonellania , a
from near the previous locality (a sédiment residue genus recently introduced by Lozouet (1990) for
coated around sponges and Siliquaria squamata some circalittoral to bathyal rissoids from the tropi-
Blainville, 1827) and in June 1990 more samples cal Atlantic.
werecollectedwithasubmersiblefromoffBarbados
* Studies on West Indian marine molluscs, 22.
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R.G. Moolenbeek & M.J. Faber A new Benthonellania APEX 6(2): 51-53, septembre 1991.
ABBREVIATIONS become weaker on the base of the shell. A weak
KBIN=KoninklijkBelgischInstituutvoorNatuur- spiralgroovejustbelow sutureand6or7grooveson
wetenschappen. base. Narrow umbilical chink. Aperture ovate, with
UMML=UniversityofMiamiMarineLaboratory. ratherstrong apertural varix. A posteriorbrown spot
USNM= National Muséum of Natural History, présentjust before varix.
Smithsonian Institution. Variability. Some paratypes hâve on the bo-
ZMA= Zoôlogisch Muséum, University of Am- dywhorl a vague light brown band just below
sterdam. perifery.The numberofaxialribsmay varybetween
14 to 27. The length ranges from 1.1 to 1.6 mm.
Benthonellania donmoorei n.sp. Type locality. Barbados,1 mile off Holetown,
Figs. 1-3 depth 200m., muddy sand. coll. Dr. P. Wagenaar
Hummelinck.
Description ofholotype. Type material. Holotype (ZMA Moll. 3.90.016);
Shellsmall,length 1.2mm,width0.8mm;bulbous, 110 paratypes (ZMA Moll. 3.90.017) . Paratypes
glossy, translucent white, multispiral light brown will be sent to UMML, USNM and KBIN.
protoconch, teleoconch whorls convex with axial Other material studied. Barbados, off Paynes
ribs, and many microscopic spiral lines. Suture Bay, 13°09.96'N-59°39.37'W,78m, 11 April 1989,
deep. ex coll. Harbor Branch Océanographie Institute
ProtoconchI(onewhorl)withabout5 fineirregular (Florida), 3 spécimens; Barbados, 13°15.12'N-
spirals (fig. 3); intervening areas with many minute 59'40.43'W, 219 m, 10 April 1989, ex coll. Harbor
granules. Protoconch II (two whorls) with 3 zigzag Branch Océanographie Institute (Florida), 7 spé-
spirals (figs 3), with extremely minute granules in cimens, both donated by Dr. W. de Weerdt, 1990;
between. A spiral band of tiny nodules présentjust Barbados,offPaynesBay, 13°09N-59°39W,August
below suture. 1978, leg. N. Stentoft, 3 spécimens; Guadeloupe,
Teleoconch whorls (3) convex with strong axial 16°13.rN-6r49.9'W76-254 m, 21 June 1989, ex
ribs (fig. 1). First teleoconch whorls with about 12 coll. Harbor Branch Océanographie Institute
axial ribs and 14 orl5 fine spiral lines (fig. 2). Body (Florida), 10 spécimens, don. Drs. W. de Weerdt,
whorl with 14 orl5 slightly curved axial ribs which 1990. Ail material deposited in ZMA.
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APEX 6(2): 51-53, septembre 1991. A new Benthonellania R.G. Moolenbeek & M.J. Faber
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. P. Wagenaar Hummelinck
for donating the greater part of his West Indian
mollusc collection to the ZMA, amongst them the
material that constitutes the type séries Dredging
.
around Barbados was made possible by Dr. John B.
Lewis & staffofBellairs Institute. Due to a grantof
the Beyerinck Popping Foundation (Dr. P. Leent-
vaar) we could sort out part of the Hummelinck
material. OurcollègueJanVermeulen (DeptofCoe-
lenterates ZMA) donated the sponge residue from
Barbados(ex.N.Stentoft) andDr.WalliedeWeerdt
(ZMA&USNM)kindlycollectedanddonatedWest
Indian sédiment samples for our research. Dr. Ri-
chard S. Houbrick and Shelley S. Greenhouse
(USNM) kindly loaned rissoids described by W.H.
H.3.H Dali. H.J. Hoenselaarpreparedthe linedrawing. Dr.
H.E. Coomans and an unknown référée gave valu-
able comments on this paper.
Rissoa listera Dali, off Femandina
(USNM 333787), syntype, length 2.7 mm LITERATURE
COOMANS,H.E. &M.J. FABER 1984. Triforisbar-
DISCUSSION. badensis a new species from deeper water off
,
Benthonellania donmoorei n.sp. appears to be a Barbados (Gastropoda: Triphoridae).
rathercommon species atdepth between 100-200m Bull.Zool.Mus., 10(5): 25-28.
around Barbados and neighbouring islands. Appar- DALL,W.H., 1889.Reportsontheresultsofdredg-
ently,itlivessympatricallywith B. colombiana,but ing...in the Gulf of Mexico (1877-78) and in the
can be separated by the différent sculpture on the Caribbean Sea (1879-1880) by the U.S. Coast Sur-
protoconch (compare ROMER& MOORE, 1988, fig. vey Steamer "Blake"... 29. Report on the Mollusca,
2). Also the outline of the protoconch is not as part II. Gastropoda and Scaphopoda. Bull.
straight and tapering as in B. colombiana The Mus.Comp.Zool, 18: 1-492.
.
numberofaxialribs inmostspécimensisonlyabout LOZOUET, P. 1990.Benthonellania nouveau genre
half of that species. B . donmoorei n.sp. tends to de Rissoidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia) du ba-
grow larger (1.6 mm) whereas B. colombiana thyal atlantique. Bull. Mus. natn. Hist. nat., Paris.
reaches only 1.3 mm. B xanthias (Watson, 1886) 12:313-328.
.
differs in being more elongate and having another PONDER,W.F., 1985. Areview ofthegêneraofthe
micro sculpture on its protoconch. Ail thèse species Rissoidae (Mollusca: Mesogastropoda: Rissoacea).
were found sympatrically at Guadeloupe. B . pyr- Rec . Austr.Mus., suppl, 1: 1-221.
rhias (Watson, 1886)isanotherrelatedspeciesfrom ROMER,N.S. &D.R.MOORE, 1988.A new species
the West Indies, but this species has a protoconch ofAlvania (Rissoidae) fromtheWestIndianrégion.
with spirals andzigzag spiralUnes. B listera (Dali, Nautilus 102: 131-133.
. ,
1927) (fig. 5) looks like a giant B donmoorein.sp. WATSON R.B., 1886. Report on the Scaphopoda
.
but has a more tapering protoconch and more axial andGastropodacollectedbyH.M.S.Challengerdur-
ribs [seetextfigure,weexamined typematerialfrom ing the years 1873-1876. Voyage ofH.M.S. Chal-
offFemandina, Florida (USNM 333787), 294 fms]. lenger, Zoology, 15: 1-675; appendix A, 677-680.
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