Conus gouldi (Hendricks, 2015)

Description

Shell size. Shell moderately small (largest observed specimen, PRI 66196, is 26.7 mm; this specimen is missing a small portion of its spire and anterior end). Last whorl. Broadly and ventricosely conical or broadly conical (RD 0.70–0.75, μ = 0.72; PMD 0.81–0.88, μ = 0.84; n = 5); outline convex to sigmoidal. Shoulder subangulate, tuberculate. Most shells widest below shoulder. Aperture uniform in width from base to shoulder. Siphonal notch absent. Fine spiral threads restricted to the basal half; some specimens exhibit a fine spiral groove that cuts across shoulder tubercles. Spire whorls. Spire height low to moderate (RSH 0.10–0.23, μ = 0.18; n = 5); outline straight to slightly convex. Protoconch unknown. All postnuclear whorls tuberculate. Sutural ramp concave to sigmoidal, with multiple spiral threads. Subsutural flexure asymmetrical, depth about 1.7x width ⁽¹⁾.

Coloration pattern.

Description based on mature specimen PRI 66193 (Fig. 14D-F). Two noninteracting patterns present. The primary (base) pattern consists of two irregular spiral bands on the last whorl; occasional axial blotches extend toward the shoulder from the posterior band. Regions between the shoulder tubercles are also pigmented. The secondary pattern consists of many (>30; poor preservation prevents an accurate count) spiral rows of fine dots

that extend from the base to just below the shoulder; at the shoulder, these appear to coalesce into fine axial streaks. The two patterns differ slightly in the color of emitted light. Pattern on sutural ramp unknown. Immature specimen PRI 66197 (Fig. 14I,J) has irregular blotches on the last whorl and lacks the secondary pattern. ⁽¹⁾.

Etymology

Named for Stephen J. Gould (1941–2002) in recognition of his important contributions to paleontology ⁽¹⁾.

Material examined

Holotype: PRI 66168.

Paratypes: PRI 66193–66197. All type specimens are from TU station 1422.

Type locality and horizon

TU 1422: Arroyo Bellaco, Dominican Republic; upper Miocene Cercado Formation

Remarks

Conus gouldi is unlike co-occurring fossil species, but is very similar in shell morphology to the extant western Atlantic species Conus regius (Fig. 14K), as recently circumscribed by Kohn. Coloration patterns are not well preserved in the known specimens of C. gouldi, but PRI 66193 does show last whorl patterning similar to some adult specimens of C. regius. Furthermore, juvenile specimens of C. regius sometimes lack the spiral rows of dots that are present in mature specimens, something also observed here in C. gouldi (PRI 66197). An important difference between the fossil and extant species, however, is adult shell size; C. regius reaches a “[t]ypical” shell length of 43 mm; the largest known specimen is over 80 mm), but the largest specimen of C. gouldi is only 26.7 mm (it is missing a small portion of its spire and anterior end, however).

Puillandre et al. demonstrated a close relationship between C. regius and the sister taxa C. bartschi Hanna and Strong, 1949 and C. brunneus Wood, 1828, all three of which they assigned to the subgenus Stephanoconus Mörch, 1852 (along with seven additional species). This subgeneric assignment is followed here for C. gouldi ⁽¹⁾.

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Conus gouldi

Fossil specimens are from locality station TU 1422 (Cercado Fm.);

modern C. regius is from the West Indies.

(A-C) PRI 66168 (holotype), SL 24.3 mm;

(D-F) PRI 66193 (paratype), SL 22.3 mm;

(G-H) PRI 66194 (paratype), SL 19.8 mm;

(I-J) PRI 66197 (paratype), SL 12.0 mm;

(K) Conus regius: CASIZ 178046, 53.1 mm.

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Bibliografia Consultata

· (1) - Hendricks (2015) “Glowing Seashells: Diversity of Fossilized Coloration Patterns on Coral Reef-Associated Cone Snail (Gastropoda: Conidae) Shells from the Neogene of the Dominican Republic”