Novaculina andamanensis Preston, 1908

Win, Than, Bolotov, Ivan N., Vikhrev, Ilya V., Lunn, Zau, Chan, Nyein, Konopleva, Ekaterina S., Gofarov, Mikhail Y., Tomilova, Alena A. & Kondakov, Alexander V., 2021, Phylogeography and distribution of the freshwater razor clams Novaculina myanmarensis and N. gangetica in Myanmar, with notes on two doubtful nominal taxa described as Novaculina members (Bivalvia: Pharidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 40, pp. 59-67 : 65

Novaculina andamanensis Preston, 1908

= Novaculina andamanensis Preston (1908): 209 , pl. 16, fig. 40.

= Novaculina andamanensis Subba Rao (1989): 223 , figs 635, 636.

= Azorinus emerginata [sic!] Ramakrishna et al. (2004): 49.

= Azorinus emarginata Ramakrishna & Dey (2010): 220 .

= Azorinus coarctatus Bolotov et al. (2018) : 9.

Type: Holotype ZSI M4060/1 [by monotypy]; Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. Subba Rao (1989) illustrated this specimen as the holotype. Later, Ramakrishna et al. (2004) assigned ZSI M4060/1 to be the holotype, and considered another specimen (ZSI M20765/4) as a paratype. However, the protologue contained the description and measurements of a single shell ( Preston 1908). Hence, the paratype status of the specimen ZSI M20765/4 is rather doubtful and requires future confirmation.

Type locality: Andaman Islands .

Proposed taxonomic placement: a junior synonym of Azorinus coarctatus (Gmelin, 1791) ( Bivalvia: Solecurtidae ).

Comments: This species was described as follows: “Shell oblong, elongate, inequilateral, constricted towards the middle, pure white, bearing traces of having been covered with a yellowish brown periostracum, concentrically striate; dorsal margin slightly sloped anteriorly; ventral margin excavated in the middle, anterior side rounded; posterior side produced, somewhat angled below; umboes small” ( Preston 1908: 209). Subba Rao (1989) noted that the validity of this species is doubtful but listed it in the original combination. Based on the protologue, this nominal taxon shares a concave ventral margin and shell with concentric striations that weakly corresponds to a Novaculina species. Ramakrishna et al. (2004) considered this nominal taxon as a synonym of Azorinus emarginata (Spengler, 1794) [= A. chamasolen (da Costa, 1778)]. However, it most likely belongs to Azorinus coarctatus , as it was suggested earlier based on morphological features such as somewhat trapezoidal shell with concave ventral margin ( Bolotov et al. 2018a).