Pseudonoduloconus wagneri ( Boettger, 1902 )

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2016, A revision of the Neogene Conidae and Conorbidae (Gastropoda) of the Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 4210 (1), pp. 1-178 : 143

Pseudonoduloconus wagneri ( Boettger, 1902)

Figs 33 I1–I3

Conus (Stephanoconus) wagneri n. sp. — Boettger 1902: 7.

Conus (Stephanoconus) wagneri Boettger—Zilch 1934: 276 , pl. 22, figs 9a–b.

Type material. Holotype, illustrated by Zilch (1934, pl. 22, fig. 9), Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt/Main, German, SMF XII.2204 a, Coşteiu de Sus ( Romania); middle Miocene, Badenian.

Studied material. Holotype.

Illustrated material. Figs 33 I1–I3: Holotype, SMF XII.2204 a; coll. O. Boettger 1899, SL: 15.0 mm, diameter: 8.5 mm, Coşteiu de Sus ( Romania); picture Sigrid Hof, courtesy Ronald Janssen, section Malacology, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut Frankfurt / Main.

Revised description. Stout, biconical shell with moderately high, coeloconoid to conical spire; spire whorls with bulgy rim along lower suture and shallow mid-whorl concavity; striate. Subsutural flexure moderately deep, asymmetrically curved. Blurred nodes on shoulder, causing strongly undulating suture. Distinctly angulated shoulder; last whorl slightly ventricose, weakly constricted at base; entirely covered by very weak spiral cords. Siphonal fasciole weakly swollen and twisted. Aperture and siphonal canal largely destroyed. No colour pattern preserved.

Shell measurements and ratios. SL: 15.0 mm, MD:. 8.5 mm, spire angle: 85°, last whorl angle: 50°, LW: 1.76, RD: 0.79, PMD: 1.09, RSH: 0.28.

Discussion. This is a poorly known species, documented only by its holotype, which might represent a subadult specimen. Despite the small size, the sculpture of the spire whorls suggests a placement in Pseudonoduloconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 . The lack of tubercles on early spire whorls does not contradict this allocation as the extant type species P. carnalis ( Sowerby III, 1879) lacks tubercles as well. Nevertheless, this feature allows a separation from the two other Paratethyan species of this genus, which both have strongly tuberculate early spire whorls. Hence, we can exclude that the shell is just a juvenile of P. austriacus ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) or P. gastaldii ( Michelotti, 1847) .

Kovács & Balász (2016) treated Conus wagneri Boettger, 1902 as a junior synonym of Conilithes granularis (Borson) [herein described as Artemidiconus granularis ( Borson, 1820) ]. In our opinion, both taxa differ considerably in outline and spire sculpture. Especially the nodulose shoulder and the moderately deep and asymmetrical subsutural flexure of P. wagneri differ considerably from A. granularis . Moreover, it lacks the characteristic beads on the last whorl of A. granularis .

Paleoenvironment. Unknown.

Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Transylvanian Basin: Coşteiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Boettger 1902).

Figures

FIGURE 33 A 1 – A 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 2013 / 0479 / 1615. 33 B 1 – B 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 1860 / 0001 / 0062. 33 C 1 – C 3. Plagioconus puschi (Michelotti, 1847), Gainfarn (Austria), NHMW 1851 / 0013 / 0062. 33 D 1 – D 3. Plagioconus lapugyensis (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1870 / 0033 / 0006 a, syntype. 33 E 1 – E 3. Coşteiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1867 / 0019 / 0005. 33 F 1 – F 3. Pseudonoduloconus gastaldii (Michelotti, 1847), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania) SMF XII. 2246 a. 33 G 1 – G 2. Pseudonoduloconus austriacus (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1875 / 0009 / 0001, syntype. 33 H 1 – H 4. Pseudonoduloconus austriacus (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Steinebrunn (Austria), NHMW 1866 / 0011 / 0106, syntype. 33 I 1 – I 3.. Pseudonoduloconus wagneri (Boettger, 1902), Coşteiu de Sus (Romania); SMF XII. 2204 a, holotype.