Muricopsis cevikeri, Houart, 2000

Houart, Roland, 2000, New species of Muricidae (Gastropoda) from the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, Zoosystema 22 (3), pp. 459-469 : 466-468

? Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp.

( Figs 3 ; 11 ; 12 )

Ocenebra hybrida – Tenekides 1989: 38, fig. 50.12 (not O. hybrida [Aradas & Benoît, 1876]).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype in IRSNB 28833/486; paratypes: 1 ( MNHN), 1 ( BMNH), 1 ( SMNH), 3 (coll. R. Houart), 3 (coll. D. Çeviker), 1 (coll. W. Engl), 1 (coll. C. Delongueville), 1 (coll. R. Scaillet), 1 (coll. F. Swinnen).

TYPE LOCALITY. — West Turkey, Aegean Sea, Iskenderun Gulf.

ETYMOLOGY. — Named after Dogan Çeviker, Istanbul, Turkey, who provided the type material and very useful information about turkish muricids.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Iskenderun Gulf. West Turkey, Aegean Sea, 9 lv (holotype, paratypes MNHN, Engl, Houart, Çeviker), 5 lv (coll. Çeviker).

Bozcaada. Paratypes BMNH, SMNH, Delongueville, Scaillet, 13 lv and dd (coll. Çeviker), 9 lv and dd (coll. R. Houart).

Kale. 1 lv (coll. R. Houart).

Mersin. Tasucu , 1 lv (coll. R. Houart) ; Liman Kalesi , 1 lv (coll. R. Scaillet) .

Cyprus. Aya Napa, 65 (1 paratype and 64 juveniles), lv and dd (coll. F. Swinnen), 2 lv (coll. R. Scaillet).

DISTRIBUTION. — Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Greece, Saronikos (Tenekides 1989); Turkey: Bozcaada, Mersin, Iskenderum; Cyprus: Aya Napa (Fig. 13).

DESCRIPTION

Shell medium sized for the genus, up to 23 mm in length at maturity, biconical. Heavy, spinose. Spire high with 1.5 protoconch whorls and up to six angulate, shouldered, spinose teleoconch whorls. Suture impressed, partially obscured by small axial lamellae of following whorl. Protoconch large. Whorls rounded, minutely punctate. Terminal varix delicate, thin, erect, strongly curved.

Axial sculpture of teleoconch whorls consisting of moderately strong, broad varices, each with four primary, short spines, rarely with an additional spinelet between first and second adapical primary spines. Shoulder spine longest. First teleoconch whorl with eight to ten varices, second with seven to nine, third, fourth and fifth with eight or nine, last with six to eight. Other axial sculpture of numerous, weak, growth lamellae.

Spiral sculpture of one or occasionally two primary cords on first to fifth teleoconch whorls. Last whorl with four primary cords, forming small spines at intersection with axial varices, occasionally with five cords. Presence of one to three squamous threads between each pair of cords; three or four threads between last abapical cord of last whorl and adapical cord of siphonal canal.

Aperture narrow, ovate. Columellar lip narrow, with two, occasionally weak, abapical folds. Lip weakly erect abapically, adherent at adapical extremity. Anal notch broad, deep. Outer lip weakly erect, with five weak, or strong denticles within. Second adapical denticle usually strongest. Siphonal canal short, narrow, weakly dorsally recurved, open, with one short spine.

Greyish or milky-white, spiral cords and threads whitish or light brown. Dark brown or blackish brown on shoulder and between spiral cords.

Operculum dark brown, ovate-elongate, with apical nucleus.

Radula not examined.

REMARKS

? Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp. is included in a group of species with its main occurence in the New World (i.e. the? M. oxytatus [M. Smith, 1938] group). The “true” species of Muricopsis have five, rarely six spiral cords on the last whorl. The shells in the oxytatus group differ from the typical Muricopsis species in having a reduced, or obsolete second spiral cord (D. Merle, in litt.).? M. cevikeri n. sp. differs from M. cristatus , a sympatric species apparently living in the same environment, in having the spire whorls ornamented with a single primary, keel, forming the main keel of last teleoconch whorl, or with two primary cords of which the abapical one is narrower, and forms the second, narrower, adapical primary cord on last whorl. In comparison, M. cristatus has two primary cords of similar size, occasionally three, on spire whorls.

The last whorl of M. cevikeri is ornamented with four primary spiral cords of which the first one is broadest, second one smallest. The third and fourth ones are similar and of an intermediate size. A fifth secondary cord rarely occurs between first and second adapical primary cords. M. cristatus usually has five spiral cords, rarely six. The apical cord is broadest, the second and third ones are narrower, the fourth one is broad, and the fifth one is slightly narrower than the fourth one, or similar in size.

In juvenile specimens of M. cevikeri the spiral cords are narrower, and more broadly spaced than in juveniles of M. cristatus .

The colour is also interesting as I never observed any form of M. cristatus with such a constant pattern (see description and figures).

Figures

FIG. 3. — Distribution map of Ocenebra brevirostra n. sp. () and of?Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp. (✹).

FIG. 11. — Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp. West Turkey, Iskenderun Gulf, holotype IRSNB, 24.5 mm.

FIG. 12. — Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp. West Turkey, Iskenderun Gulf, paratype coll. D. Çeviker, 25.8 mm.