Babelomurex sp. B aff. B. miyokoae Kosuge, 1985

(Fig. 8C, D)

Babelomurex miyokoae Kosuge, 1985: 54, 55, pl. 19, figs 4-6, 9.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype of Babelomurex miyokoae (IMT 85-11; not examined; figured by Kosuge & Suzuki [1985: pl. 21, fig. 12, pl. 32, fig. 5]).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Babelomurex miyokoae: Bohol, Philippines.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Rurutu (Mont du Lotus), BENTHAUS, stn CP 1989, 22°36.2’S, 151°00’W, 456 m, 1 dd (Fig. 8C, D).

DISTRIBUTION. — Babelomurex miyokoae: West Pacific. From Ogasawara Islands (Japan, Tsuchiya 2000: 411) Philippines, and Coral Sea (Oliverio 2008b).

REMARKS

Protoconch of 2+ whorls, 700+ µm high, 710 µm wide at the base. Sculpture of 2 spiral keels, each sculptured by a series of opisthocline threads, and an additional series of subsutural prosocline threads. Sinusigera outer lip. Shells of the real miyokoae that I have examined from the Philippines and the Coral Sea have a protoconch with more than 3 whorls, larger than the present shell from the Austral Islands. Variation in the protoconch of shells of the B. miyokoae species group is observed at several sites in the western Pacific (MO unpublished), with number of protoconch whorls ranging from 1.5 to 3.5. Since the species in this group (which are sometimes included in the subgenus Lamellatiaxis Habe & Kosuge, 1970, type species Latiaxis habui Habe & Kosuge, 1970) are very rare and adults tend to lose the protoconch, I refrain conservatively in this revision from describing a new species for this single record, pending availability of more material for a wider revision.