Lophiotoma verticala, Li, Baoquan & Li, Xinzheng, 2008

Li, Baoquan & Li, Xinzheng, 2008, Report on the turrid genera Gemmula, Lophiotoma and Ptychosyrinx (Gastropoda: Turridae: Turrinae) from the China seas, Zootaxa 1778, pp. 1-25 : 21-23

Lophiotoma verticala sp. nov.

(Pl.5, figs. 7–9)

Length Width Aperture W/L A/L 15.7 5.9 8.1 0.38 0.52 PLATE 5. Species of Subfamily Turrinae , figs. 1-3. Gemmula grandigyrata sp. nov. (holotype, CN Q32A-3); 4-6. Lophiotoma pseudocosmoi sp. nov. (holotype, CN R33B-14); 7-9. Lophiotoma verticala sp. nov. (holotype, CN X152B- 50).

Etymology. From verticalis, Latin, means vertical. The specific name is in reference to the nearly perpendicular profile of the shell is just below the peripheral carina.

Diagnosis. Shell small, sculpture with strong, rounded, subsutural fold and strongly projected, rounded, overhanging peripheral carina on upper part of each post–nuclear whorl. Color uniformly yellowish brown.

Description. Shell small, 15.7 mm in height, elongate fusiform; with tall spire and relatively long, straight anterior canal, spire turreted, about equal to height of aperture plus canal; suture distinct, with ten whorls, including conical protoconch of two whorls, apex eroded, remainder with fine axial costae. Spire whorls sculptured firstly with conspicuous, rounded subsutural fold, more rounded on early whorls and flat on adult whorls, followed by prominent, rounded peripheral carina, protruding above shell surface, like brim of hat or edge of roof. Profile of later adult whorls under peripheral carina nearly perpendicular. Entire whorl encircled by rounded spiral cords, rendered noticeably gemmulate at points of intersection with rounded and slightly oblique axials. Aperture elongate ovate, outer lip thin, sinus narrow and deep, U–shaped, situated on peripheral carina; inner lip smooth. Anterior canal moderately long, almost straight. Color uniformly yellowish brown.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality.

Remarks. The peculiar shell profile of Lophiotoma verticala sp. nov. can distinguish it from all other species of the genus. The shell profile of L. verticala looks like that of Fusiturris undatiruga (Bivona, 1832) (from Spain) according to Powell’s (1964) figure. It differs from the latter by the following shell features: the axial folds are less strong and the spiral folds are more prominent, the peripheral carina protrudes over the surface, the sinus is deep and narrow (vs the axial folds are more prominent and the spiral folds are not conspicuous, the peripheral carina is less strong and does not protrude over the surface, the sinus is narrow and broad in F. undatiruga ).

This species seems to fit the characters of the genus Fusiturris rather than Lophiotoma based on the descriptions reported by Powell (1966), but Powell maintained (1966) that the recent species of Fusiturris occur only in the Mediterranean and southward along the equatorial coast of West Africa, its Indo-Pacific counterpart species should be put in Lophiotoma . We tentatively assign this species to the genus Lophiotoma here until further evidence is found.