Columbella Lamarck, 1799

Russini, Valeria, Fassio, Giulia, Modica, Maria Vittoria, deMaintenon, Marta J. & Oliverio, Marco, 2017, An assessment of the genus Columbella Lamarck, 1799 (Gastropoda: Columbellidae) from eastern Atlantic, Zoosystema 39 (2), pp. 197-212 : 203

Genus Columbella Lamarck, 1799

TYPE SPECIES. — Voluta mercatoria Linnaeus, 1758 , by monotypy.

REMARK

The list of available names for eastern Atlantic Columbella is rather long. According to Tryon (1883) and updated with more recent works (e.g., Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar 1991; Bouchet & Gofas 2010; Monsecour & Gofas 2010a, b), we have scored 26 nominal taxa (some under the incorrect subsequent spelling Colombella ) referable to the Columbella rustica complex. All nominal taxa with an explicit Macaronesian type locality can be ascribed to C. adansoni : Columbella adansoni Menke, 1853 , C. rufa Menke, 1853 , C. rustica var. azorica Drouët, 1858 , C. striata var. minor Dautzenberg, 1900 . All nominal taxa with an explicit type locality from Senegal to Mediterranean (where a single species is known) and/or with a paucispiral protoconch are easily ascribed to Columbella rustica . This is the case of Voluta rustica Linnaeus, 1758 , C. rustica var. elongata Philippi, 1836 , C. spongiarum Duclos, 1840 , C. striata Duclos, 1840 , C. fustigata Kiener, 1841 , C. striata Duclos in Chenu, 1846, C. simpronia Duclos in Chenu, 1846, C. rustica var. cuneatiformis Pallary, 1900 , C. rustica var. lutea Pallary, 1900 , C. rustica var. minor Pallary, 1900 , C. rustica var. obesula Pallary, 1900 . The other synonymies currently implemented in WoRMS for this complex are almost all accepted (where necessary by correcting or imposing Mediterranean as type locality, see below) since they maintain stability of current usage, with two exceptions: C. xiphitella Duclos, 1840 and C. nucleus Kiener, 1841 . Among ten potential syntypes of the latter at MHNG, eight have eroded apices, while two have protoconchs partly eroded but clearly multispiral; if we imposed a Macaronesia type locality, this would make C. nucleus a senior synonym of C. adansoni (which has been the accepted valid name for the Macaronesian species for the last 25 years: Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar, 1991). The same holds for C. xiphitella Duclos, 1840 : two of the 16 syntypes at MNHN have clearly multispiral protoconchs, the locality indicated (“Californie”) is clearly erroneous, and imposing a Macaronesian type locality would make C. xiphitella also a senior synonym of C. adansoni . Therefore, to preserve nomenclatural stability in this group, we have decided to impose as first reviewers, “ Gabon ” as type locality to both C. xiphitella Duclos, 1840 and C. nucleus Kiener, 1841 .