Conus hendricksi

Kalloconus hendricksi (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016)

Conus (Lithoconus) mercati conicomaculata (Sacco, 1893)

Descrizione e caratteristiche:

Kalloconus hendricksi

Type locality: Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania).

Age: Middle Miocene, early Badenian (= Langhian).

Etymology. In honour of Jonathan R. Hendricks, a specialist for Neogene cone snails, in recognition of his contributions to the knowledge of the group.

Description. Small shells; spire very low conical with pointed, coeloconoid initial part. Early spire whorls weakly concave, distinctly striate with impressed, sometimes narrowly canaliculated suture. Within 3rd -5th teleoconch whorl, shoulder of spire whorls marked by irregular swellings and blunt beads, resulting in undulating suture; last spire whorl weakly convex, smooth, distinctly broadening. Position of maximum diameter coinciding with shoulder or slightly below. Subsutural flexure shallow, moderately curved, moderately asymmetrical. Last whorl conical to faintly ventricose, weakly constricted. Aperture narrow; slightly widening towards short and weakly reflected siphonal canal; siphonal fasciole narrow, rather indistinct; inner lip short, slightly twisted. Deep spiral grooves demarcate broad spiral cords on base. Shell surface glossy. Colour pattern consisting of about 13–16 regularly spaced rows of spirally arranged, subquadratic dots. Rows usually consisting of dots of more or less equal size; rarely single rows are formed by smaller dots.

Shell measurements and ratios. n = 18: largest specimen: SL: 26.8 mm, MD: 17.2 mm, mean SL: 22.6 mm (σ = 1.7), mean MD: 14.4 mm (σ = 1.1), spire angle: µ = 128.3° (σ = 10.6°), last whorl angle: µ =39.9° (σ = 1.4°), LW: µ = 1.6 (σ = 0.07), RD: µ = 0.70 (σ = 0.02), PMD: µ = 0.90 (σ = 0.02), RSH: µ = 0.09 (σ = 0.04).

Discussion. Kalloconus berghausi is an eye-catching species due to its frequently preserved colour pattern of spirally arranged dots. Typical specimens are medium-sized, squat and club-shaped with prominent shoulder (e.g. Landau et al. 2013). Along with this morphology, a distinctly smaller, less club-shaped morphotype is usually identified as Conus berghausi in collections and the literature, mainly due to its very similar colour pattern. A Principal Component Analysis of the shell measurements and ratios of both morphotypes shows a very good separation of both groups ( Fig. 9^{View Figure}). Both types co-occur also in the late Miocene of Montegibbio ( Davoli 1972) and are represented in NHMW collections from Modena and Tortona (Italy). The conspicuous spire sculpture strongly suggests a close relationship between both types. Aside from size and outline, typicalberghausi differs from the smaller species in the less pointed early spire, the much stronger spiral cords on the spire whorls, the broader, less defined shoulder nodules, the shallower suture and the wider suture. In addition, both groups differ also in the colour pattern, which is less variable in the K. hendricksi, consisting of regularly spaced rows of regularly sized dots. A further difference is the row of dots on the last spire whorl of K. hendricksi whereas K. berghausi develops irregular, thin flammulae.

The lack of intermediate specimens and the very constant size in the collection lots does not support an interpretation of the K. hendricksi as juveniles of the larger K. berghausi. Therefore, the smaller species seems to represent a distinct but overlooked Miocene species. Nevertheless, the fact that both morphotypes frequently cooccur at some Paratethyan and proto-Mediterranean sections is striking and we cannot exclude that we are dealing with ontogenetic stages or sexual dimorphism as discussed for Conus centurio Born, 1778 for which shells of females are reported to be larger and more obtuse ( Percharde 1984).

Despite the numerous names introduced by Sacco (1893a), we were not able to find any available name for this small berghausi -like species. Conus broteri Pereira da Costa, 1866, from the Tortonian of Portugal, may partly correspond to this species (e.g. Pereira da Costa 1866, pl. 49, fig. 26), but other syntypes of C. broteri differ clearly in their very squat shape with flat spire (e.g. Pereira da Costa 1866, pl. 49, fig. 30; Gonçalves & Monteiro 2012, p. 33, unnumbered fig.).

Paleoenvironment. Shallow marine near shore settings.

Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Vienna Basin: Baden ( Austria) (Hörnes 1851); Styrian Basin: Pöls, Weitendorf ( Austria) (own data); Carpathian Foredeep: Korytnica ( Poland) ( Bałuk 1997); Pannonian Basin System: Várpalota, Mecsek Mts. ( Hungary) ( Strausz 1966; Bohn-Havas 1973); Transylvanian Basin: Lăpugiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Hoernes & Auinger 1879); Dacian Basin: Târnene, Staropatica, Radomirci ( Bulgaria) ( Kojumdgieva & Strachimirov 1960).

Proto-Mediterranean Sea and north eastern Atlantic.? Tortonian: Cacela Basin, Portugal (Pereira da Costa 1866); Po Basin, Italy ( Davoli 1972).


Fig. 3H. Kalloconus hendricksi nov. sp., Pols (Austria), NHMW 1861/0001/0226. ⁽¹⁾ Fig. 3I. Kalloconus hendricksi nov. sp., Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1870/003/0005c.⁽¹⁾


8F1–F5. Kalloconus hendricksi nov. sp, Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania), NHMW 1870/0033/0005a, holotype. ⁽¹⁾

8G1–G3. Kalloconus hendricksi nov. sp, Pols (Austria), NHMW 1861/0001/0226, paratype ⁽¹⁾

8H. Kalloconus hendricksi nov. sp, Weitendorf (Austria) private collection, Anton Breitenberger. ⁽¹⁾	Kalloconus hendricksi ⁽¹⁾

Conus Berghausi Micht. Hörnes 1851: 19, pl. 1, fig. 3d [non Kalloconus berghausi ( Michelotti, 1847)].		Conus (Dendroconus) subraristriatus Hoernes & Auinger 1879, pl. 1, fig. 21 = Conus berghausi	Conus (Dendroconus) berghausi (Michelotti 1847) Kojumdgieva in Kojumdgieva & Strachimirov 1960: 215, pl. 51, figs 3a–b

Conus (Cleobula) berghausi vaceki (Hoernes & Auinger,1879) Strausz 1962: 147, pl. 71, figs 10–14		Conus (Dendroconus) berghausi Bohn-Havas 1973: 1124, 11, pl. 9, fig. 10 (pl. 7, figs 3 is an unidentifiable internal mould)

Conus (Lithoconus) berghausi (Michelotti, 1847) Bałuk 1997: 58 (partim), pl. 21, fig. 1 U.W., BkK-G826-829		Conus (Lithoconus) berghausi (Michelotti, 1847) Bałuk 1997: 58 (partim), pl. 21, fig. 2 U.W., BkK-G839-840

Distribuzione:


*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [18,0 x 10,3 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-01]	*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [14,3 x 9,5 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-02]

*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [23,3 x 15,4 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-03]	*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [13,7 x 8,4 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-04]

*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [17,0 x 10,9 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-05]	*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [16,8 x 11,1 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-06]

*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [15,8 x 10,5 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-07]	*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [15,5 x 9,7 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-08]

*Conus mercati conicomaculata* (Sacco 1893) *Conus hendricksi* (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) [15,7 x 9,0 mm. ] ( Miocene – Badeniano – Styria, Weitendorf ) [AZFC N. 429-09]	Conus hendricksi mm. 24,6 x 15,4 Miocene (Badeniano) – Pleven (Bulgaria) [AZFC N. 318-00]

CRETA

Conus (Kalloconus) hendricksi

Tortonian of Crete (Greece)

A, MNHN.F.A72610, ?Filippi: the largest specimen collected in abapertural and apical view (apertural view is destroyed). Notice the broken early spire whorls and the relatively equal distance of each spiral row of dots;

B, MNHN.F.A72614, ?Filippi: a well-preserved specimen, with damaged early spire whorls, but with a well preserved last whorl;

C, MNHN.F.A72628, ?Filippi: a small specimen with undamaged early spire whorls. Notice the coeloconoid shape of the spire that is missing in the larger specimens.

Scale bar: 1 cm.


Kalloconus hendricksi (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016) mm. 25,2 x 16,9 - holotype Lăpugiu de Sus (Romania) NHMW 1870/0033/0005a		Conus hendricksi mm. 24,6 x 15,4 Miocene (Badeniano) – Pleven (Bulgaria) [AZFC N. 318-00]

*Conus hendricksi* mm. 23,3 x 15,4 mm. Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-03]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 18,0 x 10,3 mm. Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-01]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 17,0 x 10,9 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-05]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 16,8 x 11,1 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-06]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 15,8 x 10,5 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-07]

*Conus hendricksi* mm. 15,7 x 9,0 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-09]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 15,5 x 9,7 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-08]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 14,3 x 9,5 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-02]	*Conus hendricksi* mm. 13,7 x 8,4 Miocene – Badeniano Styria, Weitendorf [AZFC N. 429-04]

Bibliografia Consultata