Phasmoconus schroeckingeri ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879 )

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2016, A revision of the Neogene Conidae and Conorbidae (Gastropoda) of the Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 4210 (1), pp. 1-178 : 127

Phasmoconus schroeckingeri ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879)

Figs 29 I1–I4, 30B

[ Chelyconus ] [ Conus ] Schroeckingeri n. f.— Hoernes 1878a: 195 (nomen nudum).

Conus (Chelyconus) Schroeckingeri nov. form.— Hoernes & Auinger 1879: 51, pl. 1, fig. 19.

Type material. Holotype, NHMW 1854 /0035/0040, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania).

Illustrated material. Figs 29 I1–I4, 30B: Holotype, NHMW 1854 /0035/0040, height 23.7 mm, MD: 13.8 mm, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania).

Studied material. Holotype and 1 spec. NHMW A1607, Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania).

Revised description. Small pyriform shell with low conical to coeloconoid spire; early spire whorls angulated, tuberculate; later whorls flat, striate. Subsutural flexure very shallow, weakly curved, moderately asymmetrical. Suture impressed. Last whorl faintly angulated and convex below; constricted. Lower third of last whorl and base covered by wide-spaced, raised spiral cords. Moderately long, weakly reflected siphonal canal. Siphonal fasciole very weak. Aperture narrowing adapically and widening towards siphonal canal. Colour pattern under UV light consisting of regularly spaced, thin spirals on entire last whorl, coinciding with spiral cords on base. Spirals overlain by large, roughly trigonal blotches amalgamating into two irregular bands below shoulder and below midwhorl.

Shell ratios and measurements. n = 2 specimens: SL: 23.7/ 23.8 mm, MD: 13.8/ 13.4 mm, spire angle: 110°/ 104°), last whorl angle: 40°/40°, LW: 1.72/1.78, RD: 0.67/0.66, PMD: 0.83/0.80, RSH: µ = 0.14/0.15.

Discussion. Although known by just two specimens, this seems to be a distinct species. None of the other Paratethyan cone species develops such a stout pyriform shape with striate spire whorls and raised spiral cords on the base. This sculpture of wide-spaced, prominent spiral cords on the last whorl is reminiscent of Conus s.l. sturi ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) but the strongly constricted base and the low conical coeloconoid spire exclude that P. schroeckingeri is just a juvenile C. sturi . Further, the colour pattern of delicate spirals overlain by large blotches is unknown from any other Paratethyan species.

Paleoenvironment. No information.

Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Transylvanian Basin: Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Hoernes & Auinger 1879). The occurrence of this species in the Tortonian of Barcelona, mentioned by Faura I Sans (1908), needs confirmation.

Figures

FIGURE 29 A 1 – A 3. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851), Bujtur (Romania), NHMW 1861 / 0033 / 0001. 29 B 1 – B 3. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851), Bujtur (Romania), NHMW 1861 / 0033 / 0001. 29 C 1 – C 3. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851), Bujtur (Romania), NHMW A 1608 (poetzleinsdorfensis- morph). 29 D 1 – D 3. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851), Bujtur (Romania), NHMW 1861 / 0033 / 0002. 29 E 1 – E 2. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851), Bujtur (Romania), NHMW 1836 / 0012 / 0108 a. 29 F 1 – F 3. Phasmoconus fuscocingulatus (Hörnes, 1851. Bujtur (Romania), NHMW 1836 / 0012 / 0108 b (poetzleinsdorfensis- morph). 29 G 1 – G 3. Phasmoconus ottiliae (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1870 / 0033 / 0009, syntype. 29 H 1 – H 3. Phasmoconus ottiliae (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Szob (Hungary), NHMW 1847 / 0061 / 0001. 29 I 1 – I 4. Phasmoconus schroeckingeri (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879), Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1854 / 0035 / 0040, holotype.