Turris babylonia ( Linné, 1758 )

Kilburn, Richard N., Fedosov, Alexander E. & Olivera, Baldomero M., 2012, Revision of the genus Turris Batsch, 1789 (Gastropoda: Conoidea: Turridae) with the description of six new species, Zootaxa 3244 (1), pp. 1-58 : 4-6

Turris babylonia ( Linné, 1758)

Plate 1 , figs A–K

Murex babylonius Linné, 1758: 753 (cited references include Rumphius 1705: 96, pl. 29, fig. L); Hanley 1855: 299; Gmelin 1791: 3541, sp. 52; Dodge 1957: 144; Wallin 1994: 74. Type loc.: “in O. Asiae” [= Amboina [ Ambon Is, Indonesia] f. Rumphius 1705].

Pleurotoma babylonia ; Montfort 1810: 534, fig. 134; Lamarck 1816: p. 8, pl. 439, figs 1a–b; Kiener 1839: 4, pl. 1, fig. 1 (not 2); Reeve 1843: pl. 1, sp. 5; Weinkauff 1875: 10, pl. 1, figs 4–5.

Turris babylonia ; Powell 1964: 327 (references), pl. 181, figs 3-4 only;? Powell 1966: text-fig. C40 (radula, after Thiele 1929: 361), pl. 6, fig. 17; Olivera 2000: 302 (in part), pl. 1, fig. 6 (only), pl. 4 (lower row only); Hasegawa et al. 2000: 631, pl. 314, fig. 59; Robin 2008: pl. 448, fig. 3.

Turris imperfecti Röding, 1798: 123 , sp. 1590 (cites Murex babylonus [sic] Gmelin, 1791, species 52, var.). Type loc.: not given. New synonym.

Turris nobilis Röding, 1798: 123 , sp. 1588 (cites Murex babylonus [sic] Gmelin, 1791, species 52, var.). Type loc.: not given. New synonym.

Turris pulchra Röding, 1798: 123 , sp. 1589 (cites Murex babylonus [sic] Gmelin, 1791, species 52). Type loc.: not given. New synonym.

Turris tornatum Röding, 1798: 124 , sp. 1605 (cites Murex babylonus [sic] Gmelin, 1791, species 52, and Favanne (1780): pl. 33, fig. C. 6). Type loc.: not given. New synonym.

Turris assyria Olivera, Seronay & Fedosov, 2010: 50 , fig. 1b, 2 c–e and bottom row, fig. 3 (holotype), figs 4–5, table 1. Type loc. Danajon Bank, east of Cebu, Philippines, 10–16 fath. [18–29 m], on sandy rubble. New synonym.

DESCRIPTION: Narrowly to biconically fusiform (b/l 0.24–0.29, a/l 0.41–0.44), whorls slightly pagodiform, with long to moderately long, slightly to distinctly recurved siphonal canal; suture shallow. Outer lip in side view almost straight, without a stromboid notch; anal sinus moderately deep, narrowly linear, expanding slightly at lip. Sculpture of strong slightly angular spiral cords, 4 main cords on penultimate whorl, each interval usually with 1–2 spiral threads and very fine collabral threads; cords not bearing fine secondary threads; whorls angular, with a massive, somewhat keeled peripheral cord. Subsutural cord broad and low, with a median ridge, a weak one at suture and sometimes an anterior one; sulcus concave, as wide as subsutural cord. Sinus cord narrow, flat to slopingly angular; base of each spire whorl with a single main cord; base of last whorl with 7–10 strong, angular ridges alternating with up to 4 weaker ones, becoming uniformly fine towards anterior end.

Porcellaneous white, main spiral cords with rounded or rectangular spots, usually black, subsutural region and mid last whorl or intervals between cords sometimes with a reddish-brown suffusion.

Protoconch papilliform, of ca 2.5 whorls, smooth except for a slight basal keel on last whorl.

Maximum length 97.5 mm.

DISTRIBUTION: Indonesia and Philippines south to Queensland and New Caledonia; low-tide fringe to ca 50 m, coral sand and marine grass.

TYPES: M. babylonius : lectotype, here designated, in LSUK (“properly documented” with “549”, the number of its entry in the Systema Naturae, written on its inner lip); it was designated by Dodge (1957) as “the holotype ” = lectotype under ICZN article 74.5. Dance (1967: 8) observes that “the majority of such markings seem to be in the handwriting of Linnaeus.” The lectotype is accompanied by a specimen of the species here described as Turris chaldaea , which being unmarked can be presumed to have been added subsequently and has no type status . Two possible paralectotypes are in UZIU ( Wallin 1994) . At least one other paralectotype may be in MZBI (Rumphius collection) . In Rumphius (1705: pl. 29, fig. L) there is an illustration of recognisable specimen of Turris babylonia , as here interpreted, from Amboina [= Ambon, Maluku]. That is here accepted as its type locality. The following names are synonymised with M. babylonius , the lectotype of that being here designated as their respective neotypes: Turris imperfecti , Turris nobilis , Turris pulchra , and Turris tornatum Röding, 1798 .

T. assyria : holotype ( PBRC) , paratypes 1–23 PBRC, MNHN, FMNH, Olivera colln .

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED (see Olivera et al. 2010): INDONESIA: Moluccas [ Maluku] ( NMSA J4468: H. Becker colln),

REMARKS: This well-known species was redefined by Olivera et al (2010) although erroneously regarded as an unnamed species, which was redescribed as Turris assyria . As an actual lectotype of Murex babylonius is known, we do not repeat the half dozen references given by Linnaeus (1758), except for Rumphius, who gave the first probable type locality for T. babylonia . These references were briefly discussed by Dodge (1957).

Figures

PLATE 1. Turris babylonia (Linné, 1758): A, B—Lectotype of Murex babylonius, LSUK. “In O. Asiae”, 48.4 x 13.8 mm; C, D—Off Lady Musgrave Is., Queensland, trawled 80–100 m, BO colln, 62.5 x 16.8 mm; E—Moluccas, BO colln, 67.5 x 17.7 mm; F—Marau Sound, Quadalcanal, Solomon Islands, BO colln, 75.8 x 19.6 mm; G—Sulu Sea, Philippines, BO colln, 67.8 x 17.7 mm; H—Cebu, Philippines, BO colln, 69.1 x 17.0 mm; I—Olango Is., Philippines, 44–73 m, BO colln, 78.9 x 21.3 mm; J—same data, BO colln, 62.4 x 17.4 mm; K—same data, BO colln, 71.1 x 17.6 mm.