Conopleura Hinds, 1844

Nappo, Andrea, Rey, Xabier, Pellegrini, Daniel, Bonomolo, Giuseppe & Crocetta, Fabio, 2018, Revisiting the disjunct distribution of Conopleura Hinds, 1844 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Drilliidae), Zootaxa 4392 (3), pp. 567-587 : 582

The genus Conopleura Hinds, 1844

BASEd ON OuR REVIEw, ONLy TwO SPEcIES fROm THE INdO-PAcIfIc AREA cAN bE AScRIbEd TO Conopleura HINdS, 1844 [fAmILy DRILLIIDAE OLSSON, 1964 ], NAmELy Conopleura striata HINdS, 1844 ANd Conopleura latiaxisa CHINO, 2011 . BOTH TAxA SHOw wELL-dEfINEd SHELL mORPHOLOgIES (HINdS 1844; REEVE 1846; POwELL 1966; SHuTO 1974; TIPPETT & TuckER 1995; CHINO 2011), ANd THIS IS HERE SuPPORTEd fOR THE fIRST TImE by gEOmETRIc mORPHOmETRy, bASEd ON SIgNIfIcANT dIffERENcES IN SHELL SIzES ANd IN SHAPES (CS ANd RW1; TAbLE 2) ANd THE cROSS-VALIdATION Of THE dIScRImINANT fuNcTION ON THE SAmE mORPHOmETRIc VARIAbLES. IN AddITION, THE TwO SPEcIES mAy bE SymPATRIc, bASEd ON THE fAcT THAT SHELLS Of THE TwO SPEcIES wERE fOuNd AT SImILAR dEPTHS NEAR PuNTA ENgAñO ANd CORAL POINT (MAcTAN ISLANd, PHILIPPINES) ANd IN THE OkINAwA AREA ( JAPAN) (SEE MATERIAL ExAmINEd). DIAgNOSTIc dIffERENcES IN SEVERAL mORPHOmETRIc TRAITS bETwEEN PuTATIVE SymPATRIc SPEcIES mAy bE gOOd EVIdENcE Of EffEcTIVE REPROducTIVE ISOLATION (MAyR 1966), ANd THEREfORE wE cONfIRm THEm AS VALId SPEcIES. IN AddITION, THE wIdE dISTRIbuTION Of C. striata IN THE INdO-PAcIfIc IS HERE ExTENdEd TO TAIwAN ANd INdIA, wHILST THAT Of C. latiaxisa TO JAPAN. SucH A RELATIVELy bROAd dISTRIbuTION mIgHT bE fAcILITATEd by PLANkTOTROPHIc dEVELOPmENT, AS SuSPEcTEd by PROTOcONcH mORPHOLOgy (SEE JAbLONSkI & LuTz, 1980; BOucHET, 1990). THE dISjuNcT dISTRIbuTION dEcLAREd SO fAR fOR THE gENuS IS HERE dISPuTEd, AS “ Conopleura ” aliena SmRIgLIO, MARIOTTINI & CALAScIbETTA , 1 999 IS cONSIdEREd AS bELONgINg TO Tritia RISSO, 1826 [fAmILy NASSARIIDAE IREdALE, 1916 (1835)] bASEd ON AddITIONAL mORPHOLOgIcAL ObSERVATIONS Of ITS TyPE mATERIAL ANd SHELLS Of Tritia lima (DILLwyN, 1817). TAxONOmIc RESuLTS HIgHLIgHTEd HERE ARE OVERALL cONSISTENT wITH cOmmON wORLdwIdE bIOgEOgRAPHIc PATTERNS. IN fAcT, ALTHOugH gENERA wITH dISjuNcT dISTRIbuTION IN THE INdO-PAcIfIc ANd THE TEmPERATE NORTHERN ATLANTIc ARE kNOwN wORLdwIdE, THEy ARE VERy RARE (E.g. GALINdO et al. 2016, AmONg REcENT mOLEcuLAR wORkS ON MOLLuScA, OR SHORT et al. 2007 fOR THE gENuS Posidonia KöNIg), ANd wE ARE ALSO PRONE TO ExcLudE THAT: I) Conopleura HAS A cIRcumTROPIcAL dISTRIbuTION, wITH OTHER POTENTIAL TAxA OVERLOOkEd IN THE AREA cONNEcTINg THESE dIffERENT bIOgEOgRAPHIc REALmS; II) THE PRESENcE Of Conopleura IN THE TEmPERATE NORTHERN ATLANTIc IS bASEd ON RELATIVELy REcENT INTROducTION fROm THE INdO-PAcIfIc; III) Conopleura IN THE TEmPERATE NORTHERN ATLANTIc IS A TETHyAN RELIcT (SEE TAVIANI 2002; BIANcHI 2007; POR 2009 AmONg REcENT ONES), ExPEcIALLy IN AbSENcE Of Conopleura fOSSIL REmAINS wORLdwIdE.