Varioconus echinophilus ( Petuch, 1975 ) Tenorio & Abalde & Pardos-Blas & Cmim, 2020

Tenorio, Manuel J., Abalde, Samuel, Pardos-Blas, José R. & Zardoya, Rafael, 2020, Taxonomic revision of West African cone snails (Gastropoda: Conidae) based upon mitogenomic studies: implications for conservation, European Journal of Taxonomy 663 (663), pp. 1-89 : 67

Varioconus echinophilus ( Petuch, 1975) comb. nov.

Fig. 10G

Conus echinophilus Petuch, 1975b: 180 , figs 1–3, 7.

Conus echinophilus – Monteiro et al. 2004: 41, pl. 37.

Material examined

Holotype (not examined)

The holotype is in CAS with catalog number 55454 according to the original publication. However, Coomans et al. (1986) stated that one of the paratypes ( CAS 61495, 10.7 × 6.0 mm) was deposited instead of the holotype, which was still missing in 1988 ( Filmer 2011). Current whereabouts of the holotype are unknown.

Paratype

SENEGAL • 1 spec., near NGor village; 14º43ʹ N, 17º33ʹ W; CAS 61495 .

Other material

SENEGAL • 1 spec., 22.0 mm; south of Dakar, Petite Côte , Yenne Tode ; L. Tamagnini leg.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240807 ; MNCN 15.05/90430 ( Fig. 10 G ) .

Geographical distribution

Dakar area, Senegal.

Conservation status in IUCN Red List

Endangered.

Remarks

This is a species very closely related to V. bruguieresi . In fact, in a previous phylogenetic analysis ( Abalde et al. 2017a), the mitogenome of one juvenile specimen initially identified as V. cf. echinophilus turned out to be identical in sequence to that of V. bruguieresi . However, the mitogenome of another specimen of V. echinophilus sequenced here was recovered as sister to that of V. bruguieresi , at a genetic distance consistent with a valid species ( Fig. 2 ).

Figures

Fig. 10 (opposite page). A. Conus ambiguus Reeve, 1844, neotype, 39.3 mm (NBC). B. Conus bellocqae van Rossum, 1996,paratype,60 mm(F.Gubbiolicoll.,Marbella, Spain).C. Monteiroconustabidus (Reeve, 1844), 33.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/78864). D. Conus belairensis Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989, holotype, 36.7 mm (MNHN IM-2000-32668). E. Varioconus bruguieresi (Kiener, 1846) comb. nov., 32.1 mm (MNCN 15.05/78497). F. Varioconus cloveri (Walls, 1978) comb. nov., 23.2 mm (MNCN 15.05/78457). G. Varioconus echinophilus (Petuch, 1975b) comb. nov., 22.0. mm (MNCN 15.05/90430). H. Conus franciscanus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792, lectotype, 56.6 mm (MHNG-MOLL-52625). I. Varioconus franciscanus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov., 53.6 mm (MNCN 15.05/78491). J. Varioconus franciscanus f. hybridus (Kiener, 1847), 40.0 mm (MNCN 15.05/78427). K. Conus guanche Lauer, 1993, holotype, 34.0 mm (MNHN IM-2000-2553). L. Conus guinaicus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792, lectotype, 43.0 mm (MHNG-MOLL-52638). M. Varioconus guinaicus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov., 50.2 mm (MNCN 15.05/78443). N. Lautoconus wolof Petuch & Berschauer, 2018, holotype, 21.1 mm (MNHN IM-2000-34015). O. Conus pineaui Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989, holotype, 28.7 mm (MNHN IM-2000-2528). P. Conus dorotheae Monnier & Limpalaër, 2010, holotype, 26.8 mm (MNHN IM-2009-8702). Scale bars = 10 mm.

Fig. 2. Phylogenetic relationships of West African cones and species delimitation. A time tree (relaxed molecular clock) was reconstructed following methods and calibrations in Abalde et al. (2017a). Dates are in million years. Bold names indicate new mitogenomes. A red line indicates the threshold (uncorrected p distance of 0.2%, based on the divergences between Africonus verdensis (Trovão, 1979) and its sister group and Varioconus guanche (Lauer, 1993) and its sister group) for species delimitation.