Kalloconus canariensis, Tenorio & Abalde & Pardos-Blas & Cmim, 2020

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 : 50-54

Kalloconus canariensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E99E63BE-07D8-497D-935C-EA966F0EE9D6

Fig. 7 A–I

Conus pulcher siamensis (not C. siamensis Hwass in Bruguiére, 1792 ) – Monteiro et al. 2004: pl. 24, figs 1–6, pl. 25, figs 1–3.

Kalloconus siamensis (not C. siamensis Hwass in Bruguiére, 1792 ) – Monnier et al. 2018: 1078, figs 1–5.

Etymology

The name canariensis refers to its distribution range throughout the Canary Islands. The name ‘ canariensis ’ van Rossum, 1997 is an unavailable forma name (nomen nudum; no intention to introduce a new name, stated to be infrasubspecific after 1960) that has been occasionally and incorrectly been used to refer to specimens with pulcher -like shells from the Canary Islands. The name has usually been applied to subadult specimens with a characteristic sparse pattern of purplish brown dots and dashes aligned in a spiral on a creamy white background with two broad light brown spiral bands ( Fig. 7I ). We hereby rescue this name for the new taxon and provide a formal description compliant with ICZN standards.

Material examined

Holotype

SPAIN – Canary Islands • 89.0 mm; Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Municipio de Telde, Playa de Tufia ; 27º57ʹ43ʺ N, 15º22ʹ45ʺ W; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240810 ; MNCN 15.05/200091H ( Fig. 7 A–B).

Paratypes

SPAIN – Canary Islands • 1 spec., 85.3 mm; same collection data as for holotype; MNCN 15.05/200091P ( Fig. 7C , paratype 1) • 1 spec., 132.0 mm; Lanzarote, Mala, Charco del Palo ; MNCN exped.; MNCN 15.05 /200094 ( Fig. 7F , paratype 2) • 1 spec., 92.1 mm; Tenerife, Punta de Teno ; R. Vega leg.; MNCN 15.05/200093 ( Fig. 7E , paratype 3) • 1 spec., 93.9 mm; Santa Cruz de la Palma, south of the harbor; MNCN exped.; MNCN 15.05/200092 ( Fig. 7G , paratype 4) • 1 spec., 76.3 mm; same collection data as for preceding; MNCN 15.05/200092 ( Fig. 7D , paratype 5) • 1 spec., 47.4 mm; same collection data as for holotype; MNCN 15.05/200091 P ( Fig. 7H , paratype 6) • 1 spec., 43.3 mm; Lanzarote, Municipio de Yaiza, Playa Quemada ; MNCN exped.; MNCN 15.05/200095 ( Fig. 7I , paratype 7) .

Other material

About 35 more specimens from different localities in the Canary Islands.

Description

MORPHOMETRIC PARAMETERS. S L = 47–167 mm (mean S L = 96.7 mm); RD = 0.61–0.74; RSH = 0.07–0.12; PMD = 0.61–0.73.

SHELL. Moderately large to very large. Maximum length: 167 mm. Shell profile conical to broadly conical, with convex sides adapically, straight or slightly concave below. Spire low, of straight to concave outline, some times slightly stepped. Protoconch white. Teleoconch whorls smooth, flat or slightly concave. Shoulder angulate or subangulate. Area below the shoulder often swollen, conferring a turnip-shaped appearance to certain specimens. Early teleoconch whorls white. Late teleoconch whorls white with radial brown irregular blotches. Ground color white. Last whorl overlaid in variable amount with alternating purplish brown and white spiral bars, as well as lines of dots and dashes in different shades of brown on light brown-orange and white broader spiral bands. Two sparsely patterned spiral bands located respectively above and below the midbody, where the white ground color predominates. Similar spiral band often present around basal region, just above the columella. Great variability in the color pattern, with shades of purple, brown and orange, which tend to fade with time to a more uniform brown color. Young specimens with characteristic sparse pattern of purplish brown dots and dashes aligned in spirals on creamy white background with two broad light brown to white spiral bands ( Fig. 9I). Columella white to light purple. Aperture white. Periostracum yellow-brown, thin and translucent.

ANIMAL. Sole of foot tan to light brown with brown streaks. Dorsum of foot of same color, overlaid with purplish brown irregular markings. Siphon yellowish white with dark purple tip. Mantle off-white, bordered with thin yellowish ribbon. Operculum small, teardrop shaped.

RADULAR TOOTH. Radula studied from two specimens, including paratype 1 ( Fig. 7J ). Radular tooth of medium relative size (S L /T L = 36–49), with short, but well-developed apical barb. Anterior section distinctly longer than posterior section of tooth (T L /AP L = 1.59–1.63). Waist rather indistinct, not very well marked. Blade moderately short and rounded, covering about one third to one half of anterior section (100B L /AP L = 39–48%). Serration with 50–55 denticles, arranged in major row flanked by numerous smaller serrations. Rounded terminating cusp present. A basal spur is present.

Distribution and habitat

Canary Islands. Its potential presence outside this archipelago (i.e., Madeira) needs confirmation.

Conservation status in IUCN Red List

Not evaluated.

Remarks

Mitogenomic analyses have revealed that the populations of pulcher -like cones from the Canary Islands actually correspond to a separate species hereby introduced as K. canariensis sp. nov., sister to K. pulcher ( Figs 2 , 8A ) and most likely endemic to this archipelago. This species is present on all the islands, living between 1 and 50 m deep, most frequently between 5 and 20 m. The shell of K. canariensis sp. nov. usually is more brightly colored than that of K. pulcher , with shades of purple and orange in the pattern which are usually absent in the latter. In K. canariensis sp. nov. the area below the shoulder is often swollen, conferring a somewhat turnip-shaped appearance. However, these differences are not constant. Furthermore, there are no statistically significant differences in mean shell length or maximum diameter between K. pulcher and K. canariensis sp. nov.: a comparison of two sets constituted by 40 individuals of K. canariensis sp. nov. and 40 individuals of K. pulcher did not yield significant results in ANOVA tests using species as factor and S L (F = 2.96, p = 0.0892) or MD (F = 2.40, p = 0.1254) as variables. Likewise, and analysis of the covariance using species as factor, MD as variable and S L as covariate did not yield significant results either (F = 0.32, p = 0.5762). Despite the fact that individuals of K. pulcher (especially those coming from the Gulf of Guinea) may attain a greater maximum shell lenght than individuals of K. canariensis sp. nov., actually there is no statistically significant difference in mean shell lenght between the two species: mean S L = 96.7 mm for K. canariensis sp. nov., and mean S L = 110.2 mm for K. pulcher (t = -1.721, p = 0.089; U = 618.5, p = 0.082). There are no significant differences either in the radular teeth of both species ( Fig. 7 J–K), suggesting similar dietary habits. Hence, the separation of K. pulcher and K. canariensis sp. nov. based upon shell and radular morphologies cannot always be accurate, relying only on subtle differences in shell features and pattern. The name siamensis Hwass in Bruguiére, 1792 has been used in the literature to refer to these cones from the Canary Islands, either as a separate species ( Monnier et al. 2018) or as a geographic subspecies (Röckel 1978, 1982; Monteiro et al. 2004; Filmer 2011). This name

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has been synonymized with pulcher ([ Lightfoot, 1786]) by several authors ( Kohn 1992; van Rossum 1997). However, the type locality of siamensis is “Indian Ocean” (erroneous). The dimensions of the lectotype of Conus siamensis at MHNG ( Fig. 9B) overlap completely with those of both K. pulcher and K. canariensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 8 ). Hence, it is not possible the unambiguous assignation of the lectotype of C. siamensis as representative of the new species constituted by the individuals from the Canary Islands based upon its shell features only. Therefore, we consider the name siamensis as a junior synonym of pulcher in agreement with Kohn (1992), and the new name K. canariensis sp. nov. is hereby introduced for species from the Canary Islands.

Figures

Fig. 7 (opposite page). Kalloconus canariensis sp. nov. A–B. Holotype (dorsal and ventral views), 89.0 mm (MNCN 15.05/200091H). C. Paratype 1, 85.3 mm (MNCN 15.05/200091P). D. Paratype 5, 76.3 mm (MNCN 15.05/200092). E. Paratype 3, 92.1 mm (MNCN 15.05/200093). F. Paratype 2, 132.0 mm (MNCN 15.05/200094). G. Paratype 4, 93.9 mm (MNCN 15.05/200092). H. Paratype 6, 47.4 mm (MNCN 5.05.200091P). I. Paratype 7, 43.3 mm (MNCN 15.05/200095). J–K. Radular tooth. K. K. canariensis sp. nov., paratype 1. K. K. pulcher ([Lightfoot], 1786), Joal Fadiouth, Senegal (MJT), SL = 96.7 mm. Scale bars = 10 mm unless otherwise indicated

Fig. 2. Phylogenetic relationships of West African cones and species delimitation. A time tree (relaxed molecular clock) was reconstructed following methods and calibrations in Abalde et al. (2017a). Dates are in million years. Bold names indicate new mitogenomes. A red line indicates the threshold (uncorrected p distance of 0.2%, based on the divergences between Africonus verdensis (Trovão, 1979) and its sister group and Varioconus guanche (Lauer, 1993) and its sister group) for species delimitation.

Fig. 8. Plot of maximum diameter (MD, mm) versus shell length (SL, mm) for K. canariensis sp. nov. (Ɨ) and K. pulcher ([Lightfoot], 1786) (-). The lectotype of K. siamensis (Hwass in Bruguiére, 1792) (A) is also shown.