Conus (Afonsoconus) bruuni Powell, 1958

Tenorio, Manuel J. & Puillandre, Nicolas, 2023, Revision of the deep-water cone snail fauna from New Caledonia (Gastropoda, Conoidea), European Journal of Taxonomy 896, pp. 1-134 : 68

Conus (Afonsoconus) bruuni Powell, 1958

Figs 2 , 50–51

Conus bruuni Powell, 1958: 84 , pl. 10 fig. 3.

Conus bruuni – R̂ckel et al. 1995b: no. 66, pl. 16 figs 16–21.

Afonsoconus bruuni – Tucker & Tenorio 2013: 119. — Monnier et al. 2018a: 640.

Material examined

201 lots (558 specimens). See Supp. file 1.

Type material

Holotype NEW ZEALAND • 43.5 mm; off Raoul Island , Kermadec Islands; 75–85 m depth; 3 Mar. 1952; NHMD-91131 , previously ZMUC-GAS-808 ( Fig. 50A ).

Figured material

NEW CALEDONIA • 43.5 mm; off S New Caledonia, stn CH5; 24º44′ S, 168º09′ E; 223 m depth; 27 Oct. 1986; CHALCAL 2 expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50B ) • 42.3 mm; Norfolk Ridge , Banc Jumeau Ouest, off New Caledonia, stn DW2042; 23º41′ S, 168º01′ E; 235‒245 m depth; 23 Oct. 2003; NORFOLK 2 expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50C ) • 41.1 mm; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN ( Fig. 50D ) • 51.3 mm; Grand Passage , off New Caledonia, stn DW2986; 17º59′ S, 163º05′ E; 270‒300 m depth; 5 May 2008; CONCALIS expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50E, L ) • 48.3 mm; Norfolk Ridge , Crypthélia, off New Caledonia, stn DW3072; 23°19′ S, 168°16′ E; 180–220 m depth; 23 Oct. 2008; TERRASSES expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50F ) • 52.8 mm; Loyalty Ridge , off New Caledonia, stn DW417; 20º42′ S, 167º04′ E; 283 m depth; 16 Feb. 1989; MUSORSTOM 6 expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50G ) • 56.8 mm; off S New Caledonia, stn DW113; 19º03′ S, 163º30′ E; 250 m depth; 2 Mar. 1990; SMIB 6 expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50H ) • 42 mm; Norfolk Ridge , Jumeau Ouest, off New Caledonia, stn DW3056; 23°42′ S, 168°01′ E; 250–330 m depth; 20 Oct. 2008; TERRASSES expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50I ) • 70.6 mm; New Caledonia, SW Île des Pins , off New Caledonia, stn PL21; 22º45′ S, 167º09′ E; 340–340 m depth; 12 Mar. 1989; CALSUB expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50J ) • 13.4 mm; Norfolk Ridge , off New Caledonia, stn DW156; 24º46′ S, 168º08′ E; 275–300 m depth; 28 Jan. 1993; SMIB 8 expedition; MNHN ( Fig. 50K ) • 68 mm; Grand Passage , off N New Caledonia, stn CP3008; 18º30′ S, 163º04′ E; 275–305 m depth; 7 May 2008; CONCALIS expedition; Atheris coll. ( Fig. 50M ) .

Geographical distribution and bathymetry

N New Zealand (Kermadec Islands) in less than 100 m deep. In New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands and the Coral Sea typically at depths between 200 and 400 m. Specimens from the Philippines identified as A. bruuni correspond most likely to a different species (Tenorio et al. 2018).

Remarks

Medium-sized to moderately large (maximum shell length 75 mm) conical shell with a low to moderate spire straight or slightly concave and an angulate shoulder. Protoconch multispiral of about 3 whorls ( Fig. 50L ). Radular tooth ( Fig. 50M ) rather large, narrow and elongated with the anterior section slightly shorter than the posterior section. The tooth is serrated with a fairly long row of small denticles ending in a small terminating cusp. Barb and blade very short, almost equal in size. Basal spur is present on top of the large base. This is possibly the most abundant species among the lots from New Caledonia examined in the present work, with more than 550 specimens. In the phylogeny of New Caledonian cone snails presented in Fig. 2 , C. (A.) bruuni appears sister to species in the (sub)genus Phasmoconus . However, in a more general phylogeny, the Afonsoconus clade is sister to the Textilia clade (Tenorio et al. 2018; Puillandre et al. 2014), which contains fish-eating species with harpoon-shaped radular teeth such as Conus (Textilia) dusaveli (H. Adams, 1872) or Conus (Textilia) cervus Lamarck, 1822 . Although these two species occur in New Caledonia, no live specimens were available, so they were not included in our phylogenetic analysis.

Figures

Fig. 2. Cox1-based Bayesian phylogeny. Posterior probabilities (> 0.95) and bootstrap values (> 90) from the ML analysis are provided for each node. Intraspecific relationships are collapsed. Subgenus names are indicated on the right.

Fig. 50. Conus (Afonsoconus) bruuni Powell, 1958. A. Holotype, off Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, 75‒85 m depth, 43.5 mm (NHMD-91131). B. S New Caledonia, 223 m depth, 47.4 mm. C. Norfolk Ridge, Banc Jumeau Ouest, 235–245 m depth, 42.3 mm. D. Same collection data as for specimen C, 41.1 mm.E. Grand Passage, 270‒300 m depth, 51.3 mm. F. Norfolk Ridge, Banc Crypthélia, 180–220 m depth, 48.3 mm. G. Loyalty Ridge, off New Caledonia, 283 m depth, 52.8 mm. H. S New Caledonia, 250 m depth, 56.8 mm. I. Norfolk Ridge, Banc Jumeau Ouest, 250–330 m depth, 42 mm. J. SW of Île des Pins, off New Caledonia, 340–340 m depth, 70.6 mm. K. Norfolk Ridge, 275–300 m depth, 13.4 mm.L. Protoconch of specimen from Grand Passage, off New Caledonia, 270‒300 m depth. M. Radular tooth of specimen from Grand Passage, 275‒305 m depth, 68.0 mm. Scale bars = 10 mm, unless otherwise stated.

Fig. 51. Bathymetric range and distribution map for Conus (Afonsoconus) bruuni Powell, 1958. Red circles indicate the points where the species was collected.