Scalptia gradata (Hörnes, 1854)

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2012, A revision of the Neogene Cancellariid Gastropods of the Paratethys Sea 3472, Zootaxa 3472, pp. 1-71 : 42-43

Scalptia gradata (Hörnes, 1854)

Figs 8I 1–I 3

Cancellaria gradata Hörnes 1854: 319 , pl. 35, figs. 2a–b.

Cancellaria (k. Trigonostoma ) gradata M. Hoern. — Hoernes & Auinger 1890: 277.

Trigonostoma gradatum Hoern. — Friedberg 1914: 251, textfig. 56.

Cancellaria (Trigonostoma) gradata Hörnes — Sieber 1936: 86.

Cancellaria (Trigonostoma) gradata Hörnes — Csepreghy-Meznerics 1956: 416, pl. 9, figs 30–31.

Cancellaria (Trigonostoma) gradata Hörnes — Strausz 1966: 378, pl. 45, figs 8–10, 12, 13, textfig. 165.

Trigonostoma (Trigonostoma) gradata Hörnes — Atanacković 1985: 164, pl. 37, figs 1–2.

Trigonostoma gradatum (Hörnes, 1856) [sic]— Harzhauser 2002: 111, pl. 9, figs 8–9.

Scalptia gradata (Hörnes, 1854) — Brunetti et al. 2008: 56, fig. 3 E–F.

non Cancellaria (Trigonostoma) gradata Hörnes — Kókay 1966: pl. 9, fig. 10 [? = Trigonostoma exgeslini ( Sacco, 1894) ].

non Trigonostoma gradatum (Hörnes, 1854) — Chirli 2002: 72, pl. 35, figs 9–16.

Type material. NHM Vienna ( Austria); see below for details .

Studied material. 8 spec. Gainfarn ( Austria) NHMW 1871 / 0011/0023, NHMW 1855 /0045/0472; 2 spec. Niederleis ( Austria) NHMW 1868 /0015/0702; 1 spec. Grund ( Austria) NHMW 1855 /0045/0736; 2 spec. Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania) NHMW 1868 /0001/0468.

Illustrated material. Figs 8I 1–I 3: syntype illustrated in Hörnes (1854, pl. 35, figs 2a–b), Gainfarn ( Austria), height: 19.8 mm, width: 10.8 mm, NHMW 1871 /0011/0023.

Discussion. This rather small species is characterised by a slender shell with high last whorl and slightly scalate spire whorls and a spoke-wheel-like sculpture of the sutural shelf in apical view. In very old shells, the spire may attain more than 50% of the total height, whilst the last whorl dominates in younger shells. Well preserved specimens display a tendency to form delicate beads on the primary and secondary spiral ribs.

Kókay (1966) illustrated a fragment from the Badenian of Herend in Hungary, which he identified as Cancellaria gradata on the plate, but did not provide any description in the text. In the text, however, he mentions “ Cancellaria (Trigonostoma) exgeslini Sacco ” without referring to any figure. This fragment is unidentifiable from the picture, but might represent Trigonostoma exgeslini . The Tortonian shell from Stazzano in Italy described as Trigonostoma gradatum var. dertumbilicata Sacc. by Sacco (1894) differs only in its broader last whorl. It might represent a Late Miocene morphotype or chrono-subspecies of the more slender Middle Miocene Scalptia gradata (Hörnes, 1854) (cf. Ferrero Mortara et al. 1984, pl. 28, figs 7a–b). The Pliocene shells from Italy, identified by Chirli (2002) as Trigonostoma gradatum , are definitely not conspecific with the Middle Miocene species. They differ in their broader shell, the short body whorl, the sculpture of the sutural ramp and the much wider umbilicus.

Distribution. Scalptia gradata appears during the early Badenian in the Paratethys and persists up to the middle Badenian. It is widespread but seems to disappear during the late Badenian (Serravallian). Its descendent might be represented as Scalptia gradata var. dertumbilicata ( Sacco, 1894) from the Late Miocene of the Proto –Mediterranean Sea.

Paratethys –Badenian: Polish–Carpathian Foredeep ( Poland: Zborów); North Alpine Foreland Basin ( Austria: Grund); Vienna Basin ( Austria: Niederleis, Bad Vöslau, Gainfarn, Enzesfeld, Steinebrunn); Eisenstadt–Sopron Basin ( Austria: Forchtenau); Southern Pannonian Basin ( Bosnia: Hrvaćani); Transylvanian Basin ( Romania: Lăpugiu de Sus).