Athleta rarispina ( Lamarck, 1811 )

Thivaiou, Danae, Harzhauser, Mathias & Koskeridou, Efterpi, 2019, Early Miocene Gastropods from the Felli Section (Proto-Mediterranean Sea NW Greece), Geodiversitas 41 (8), pp. 323-366 : 342

Athleta rarispina ( Lamarck, 1811)

(Fig. 6 C1-C4)

Voluta rarispina Lamarck, 1811: 79 .

Athleta rarispina – Landau et al. 2013: 205, pl. 68, fig. 2; pl. 80, fig. 4 (cum syn.).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Sample F11: AMPG ( IV) 2462, 2463 (two specimens).

DIMENSIONS. — Maximum height: 39.0 mm.

DISTRIBUTION. — Latest Oligocene-Earliest Miocene. Paratethys: Hungary ( Báldi 1973).

Early Miocene. NE Atlantic: France ( Peyrot 1928); Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Italy ( Sacco 1890), Turkey ( İslamoğlu 2004); Paratethys: Germany ( Landau et al. 2013).

Middle Miocene. NE Atlantic: France ( Peyrot 1928); Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Turkey ( Landau et al. 2013); Paratethys: Austria ( Hörnes 1856), Poland ( Bałuk 1997), Hungary ( Strausz 1966).

Late Miocene. Proto-Mediterranean Sea: Italy ( Landau et al. 2013), Greece ( Symeonidis 1966), Turkey ( İslamoğlu & Taner 2003).

REMARKS

Two specimens recovered from the present material bearing the characteristic features of Athleta rarispina ( Lamarck, 1811) , with few spiral lines in the abapical part of the shell and three columellar folds (as opposed to A. ficulina ( Lamarck, 1811) that has more numerous folds). Protoconch and early teleoconch features are poorly preserved. The larger of the two specimens has a somewhat irregular sculpture, with irregularly formed spines (forming different angles relative to the surface of the shell) and two growth stops that affect the overall appearance of the sculpture by attenuating two rows of spines.

A full list of synonymy is provided by Landau et al. (2013), which also illustrates the confusion of A. rarispina and A. ficulina due to their overall similar morphologies, while bringing out the differences of the shells (including the different colouration patterns)

In the Early Miocene of Greece, only A. ficulina has been reported from both the Aquitanian and the Burdigalian of the Mesohellenic Basin so far ( Harzhauser et al. 2002).

Figures

FIG. 6. — A1-A3, Costoanachis cf. terebralis (Grateloup, 1834), AMPG(IV) 2467; B1, B2, Pusia cf. pyramidella (Brocchi, 1814), AMPG(IV) 2469; C1-C4, Athleta rarispina (Lamarck, 1811), AMPG(IV) 2462; D1-D4, Mangelia (s.l.) sp.: D1, D2, AMPG(IV) 2474; D3, D4, AMPG(IV) 2475, detail of microsculpture (SEM images). Scale bars: A1, A2, B1, B2, D1, D2, 1 mm; C1-C4, 10 mm; D3, 300 μm; D4, 100 μm.