Babelomurex kawanishii ( Kosuge, 1979 )

Oliverio, Marco, 2009, Diversity of Coralliophilinae (Mollusca, Neogastropoda, Muricidae) at Austral Islands (South Pacific), Zoosystema 31 (4), pp. 759-789 : 776-778

Babelomurex kawanishii ( Kosuge, 1979) ( Fig. 8A, B )

Latiaxis (Echinolatiaxis) kawanishii Kosuge, 1979: 4 , pl. 2, figs 4-6.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype ( IMT 79-2; not examined; figured by Kosuge & Suzuki [1985: pl. 17, fig. 13, pl. 34, fig. 2]; “transferred to the collection of Mr. Masaji Suzuki” [ Kosuge 1992]). Higo et al. (2001: 68, G2460) cited the Sea Shell Specimen Museum, Shinjuku, Tokyo, as the repository for the same figured specimen.

TYPE LOCALITY. — South China Sea (near Paracel Islands, about 200 m depth).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — BENTHAUS, stn DW 1957, Tubuai Is., 23°18.8’S, 149°29.3’W, 558-1000 m, 1 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — From Japan and the China Sea ( Tsuchiya 2000: 411), “ 100-200 m, rocks” ( Higo et al. 1999: 220), to the southwest Pacific, Norfolk Ridge and Loyalty Ridge, empty shells in 233- 280 m. Austral Islands, one empty shell in 558-1000 m.

REMARKS

The shell is concordant with the type material and the other known samples, and constitutes a range extension eastward.

Figures

FIG. 8. — A, B, Babelomurex kawanishii, Tubuai Is., BENTHAUS,stn DW 1957,23°18.8’S, 149°29.3’W,558-1000 m; C, D, Babelomurex sp. B aff. B. miyokoae Kosuge, 1985, Rurutu (Mont du Lotus), BENTHAUS, stn CP 1989, 22°36.2’S, 151°00’W, 456 m. Scale bars: 5 mm.