Conus (Monteiroconus) tsampikaensis (Psarras*, Merle, Moisette, Koskeridou, 2024)

Type locality. — Tsampika, Tsampika section, Rhodes, Greece.

Type horizon. — Ladiko-Tsampika Fm, Pleistocene, Rhodes, Greece.

Stratigraphicrange. — Chibanian (Middle Pleistocene) to Up­per (?) Pleistocene of Rhodes, Greece (this work).

Description ⁽¹⁾

Shell

Medium-sized shell (max length of about 52.3 mm), with low angled coeloconoid spire. Early spire whorls coeloconoid, slightly elevated with three to four spiral grooves on sutural ramp. Later spire whorls flatten with coeloconoid sutural ramps. Shoulder angulated, with maximum diameter below shoulder. Subsutural flexure moderately deep to shallow, strongly curved, moderately asymmetrical. Last whorl elongated, conical.

Colour pattern

The colour pattern on the spire whorls consists of thin axial flammulae. The pattern on the last whorl consists of two levels of pigmentation. The first one consists of two broad spiral bands, separated by a wide non-fluorescent band along the anterior part of the last whorl. The second level of pigmentation consists of spirally and axially arranged fluorescent dots, dashes and small flakes interrupted by non-fluorescent bars or small blotches. The second level of pigmentation persists on the fluorescent bands and the non-fluorescent areas.

Remarks ⁽¹⁾

The specimens from Tsampika (Figs 7-8) are considered to be of the subgenus Conus (Monteiroconus) due to their coeloconoid and spirally grooved sutural ramp, and the relatively low spire outline. They resemble the morphology of Conus (Monteiroconus) ambiguus Reeve, 1844 in terms of the angulated shoulder, the low, angled spire, and the size of this species reaches 75 mm, while the largest specimen found in Tsampika is 70 mm. However, the spire of Conus (Monteiroconus) ambiguus Reeve, 1844 does not have spiral cords (Monteiro et al. 2004) or has three deeply incised spire grooves (Petuch 1975) and thus differs from the specimens from Tsampika. In addition, the pattern of the last whorl of Conus (Monteiroconus) ambiguus is usually pale and consists of a purple-cream ground colour (Monnier et al. 2018a), although it has rarely been observed to have evenly distributed spiral rows and two slightly darker spiral bands in the middle and anterior part of the last whorl (Reeve 1844: pl. 54, fig. 244; see also Monnier et al. 2018a: fig. 2). The colour patterns of Conus (Monteiroconus) ambiguus and Conus (Monteiroconus) tsampikaensis n. sp. differ in the density of the axial flammu­lae on the spire (which are denser in Conus (Monteiroconus) ambiguus) and in the presence of spiral dashes, dots, flakes and non-fluorescent bars on the spiral pattern of the Tsampika population (Fig. 9). Conus (Monteiroconus) tsampikaensis n. sp. (Figs 7; 8) resem­bles other Conus (Monteiroconus) species from the Pliocene, such as Conus (Monteiroconus) antiquus Lamarck, 1810, Conus (Monteiroconus) villalvernensis Pavia & Dulai & Festa & Gen­nari & Pavia & Carnevale, 2022, and Conus (Monteiroconus) virginalis (Brocchi, 1814) recently discussed from Italy (Pavia et al. 2022). However, Conus (Monteiroconus) antiquus has a different colour pattern variation (see Psarras et al. 2023), while the two species discussed in Pavia et al. (2022) have a higher spire and elevated spire whorls, so we do not consider them conspecific to the Rhodes material. Juárez & Matama­les-Andreu (2016) identified Conus (Monteiroconus) tabidus Reeve, 1844, a species originally described from West Africa, from the Tyrrhenian (MIS 5e) of Mallorca. This species usu­ally lacks a colour pattern or displays fine and irregular spi­ral stripes, or occasionally some subquadrate blotches on an overall white background. This pattern is very different from that observed on the Rhodes specimens. Juárez & Matamales- Andreu (2016) did not describe a residual colour pattern on the Mallorcan material.

Chirli & Linse (2011) found specimens resembling Conus (Monteiroconus) tsampikaensis n. sp. at Malona. The figured specimens are very similar to those found at Tsampika. One specimen from Malona, stored at the AMPG, confirms Conus (Monteiroconus) tsampikaensis n. sp being present in that locality (Fig. 8E). The presence of this species in Arkhangelos Fm, which is certainly older than Tsampika (Cornée et al. 2018), indicate that the species was present in the Mediterranean during the Middle Pleistocene in at least two interglacial periods ⁽¹⁾.

Etymology. — Named after the type locality of Tsampika section where it was found ⁽¹⁾.

Bibliografia Consultata

• (1) – PSARRAS, MERLE, MOISSETTE, KOSKERIDOU (2024) “The Pleistocene Conidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the island of Rhodes (Greece) and their palaeoecological significance”