Cytharomorula grayi ( Dall, 1889 )

Houart, Roland & Héros, Virginie, 2008, Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Fiji and Tonga, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 437-480 : 459

Cytharomorula grayi ( Dall, 1889)

Nassarina grayi Dall, 1889: 183 , pl. 32, fig. 12a.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Tonga. BORDAU 2: stn DW 1508, 225- 233 m, 1 dd; stn DW 1567, 21°02’S, 175°19’W, 351-356 m, 21°02’S, 175°19’W, 555-581 m, 1 dd; stn DW 1512, 21°19’S, 1 dd; stn DW 1603, 22°12’S, 175°20’W, 189-196 m, 3 dd. 175°01’W, 183-184 m, 1 dd; stn DW 1521, 21°19’S, 175°01’W ,

DISTRIBUTION. — Eastern Atlantic: St Helena, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Western Atlantic: Lesser Antilles to southern Brazil. Indo-Pacific: South Africa, western Indian Ocean, New Caledonia, Norfolk Ridge, Tonga (new record), shells in 184-555 m, French Polynesia and probably Japan (Tsuchiya 2000: 381), live in about 100-300 m (data from all localities).

REMARKS. — As noted by Houart (1995a), the wide distribution of this species is probably a result of a planktotrophic larval life of exceptionally long duration. No consistent differences could be detected between the Indo-Pacific material and specimens from the western and eastern Atlantic.