Triphoris pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863

Albano, Paolo G., Franco, Davide Di, Azzarone, Michele, J., Piet A., Bakker & Sabelli, Bruno, 2023, Review of the types of Indo-Pacific Triphoridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, Zoosystema 45 (2), pp. 13-106 : 24

Triphoris pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863 ( Fig. 9 )

Triphoris pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863: 105 , pl. 12, figs 3-4.

TYPE LOCALITY. — La Réunion.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Not found (but see Remark).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL. — Reunion Island • Triphora aff. pupaeformis : MNHN-IM-2000-479; 2 specimens; La Réunion (coll. Vignal) • MNHN-IM-2012-36192; 1 specimen; Cap La Houssaye , La Réunion (coll. Jay) .

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION. — T. testa brevi , ovato-oblonga, cylindraceopupaeformi, apice mucronata, proboscidea, atro-fusca; anfractibus duodecimis, angustissimis, lentissime crescentibus, sutura canaliculata vix distinctis, bifariam granulosis, granulis paulo albescentibus, appressis, ultimo brevissimo, basi bisulcato, canali brevi terminato; apertura ovato-rotunda, lateraliter brevi fissurata.

[Latin diagnosis followed by a discussion in French]

TRANSLATION OF THE LATIN TEXT. — Short shell, ovate-elongated, cylindrical-pupoid with a pointed and elongated apex, dark brown; twelve whorls, very narrow and growing very slowly, with a channelled and strongly distinct suture and with two spiral cords of slightly whitish and flattened granules, very short last whorl, with two grooves at the base, short siphon; ovate-rounded aperture, laterally shortly fissured.

REMARKS. — A neotype of T. pupaeformis was designated by Jay (2007) (inventory number MNHN-IM-2000-9492, Fig. 9G, I ). However, there are significant differences between Jay’s neotype and Deshayes’ original description. T. pupaeformis is described as bearing two spiral cords (“ bifariam granulosis ”) and, importantly, the suture has the same size of the interspace between the spiral cords (“la suture qui les réunit est à peine distincte quoique profonde, parce qu’elle est absolument semblable à l’intervalle qui sépare les deux rangées de granulations dont les tours sont chargés”). In contrast, the designated neotype has three spiral cords on the lower half of the shell, the second starting as a fine thread and becoming fully grown only on the last whorl. This implies, however, that the interspace between the cords, even at mid-shell height, is much broader than the suture. Additionally, Deshayes described the shell as dark brown (“ atro fusca ”) with whitish tubercles (“ granulis paulo albescentibus ”) which are broad and very close one to each other (“ces granulations sont comme écrasées, larges, épaisses, très-rapprochées, blanchâtres vers le sommet”). The designated neotype has small and well-spaced tubercles, which are whitish only on the third spiral cord and on the last whorl. Therefore, we consider that the designated neotype does not match Deshayes’ T. pupaeformis and propose to invalidate such designation. Triphoris pupaeformis closely resembles T. crassula von Martens, 1880 , whose locus typicus is Mauritius (lectotype illustrated by Albano & Bakker (2016)). However, also Obesula borbonica Jousseaume, 1898 from the Red Sea and La Réunion, T. triticea Pease, 1861 , from Hawaii, Opimaphora albogemmata Laseron, 1958 , from the Capricorn group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, belong to this species group but their relations are still unclear. In the Vignal (MNHN-IM-2000-479) and Jay (MNHN-IM-2012-36192) collections, there are two and one specimens, respectively, similar to T. pupaeformis from Reunion, characterized by two spiral cords with the prominent, closely arranged, whitish tubercles on brown background ( Fig. 9 A-G and J, K, respectively). The lot MNHN-IM-2000-479 from the Vignal collection contains two more specimens that belong to another species, because they have three spiral cords.

Figures

FIG. 9. — Triphoris pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863: A, original figure in Deshayes (1863); B-F, H, Triphoris aff. pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863, La Réunion, MNHN- IM-2000-479 (coll.Vignal):front (B, C), side (D, E), back (F), teleoconch microsculpture (H); G, I, Triphoridae sp.(non pupaeformis), MNHN-IM-2000-9492; front (G), teleoconch microsculpture (I); J-M, Triphoris aff. pupaeformis Deshayes, 1863, La Réunion, MNHN-IM-2012-36192 (coll. M. Jay): front (J, K), side (L), back (M). Scale bars: B-G, 0.5 mm; H, 0.4 mm; I, 0.2 mm; J, K, 1 mm.