Conus
(Eugeniconus) irisae (Petuch, 2004)
Description:
Shell of average size for genus, elongated, slender; shoulder sharply angled,
smooth, subcarinate; spire flattened, only slightly raised on early whorls,
with spire whorls shallowly canaliculate; shell smooth and shiny, with 10-12
small, low spiral cords encircling anterior tip; aperture uniformly narrow;
protoconch exerted, distinctly
mammilate; shell color pattern, when preserved, composed of dense network of
tiny, triangular and heart-shaped markings
covering entire body whorl.
Type Material: Holotype; AMNH FI-50680, length 31 mm,
width 16 mm; Paratype; length 27 mm, in research collection of author, same
locality as holotype.
Type Locality: The holotype was collected in the Golden
Gate Member of the Tamiami Formation, in the Florida Rock Industries, Inc.
Naples quarry (old Mule Pen Quarry), East Naples, Collier County, Florida.
Stratigraphic
Range: Confined to the coral reef facies of the Golden Gate Member, Tamiami
Formation, Okeechobee Group, late Piacenzian
Pliocene.
Etymology: Named for Mrs.
Iris Shellhorn of Golden Gate Estates, Naples, Florida.
Discussion: The new species is the second-known member
of the Indo-Pacific coral reef-associated genus Eugeniconus (typified by species such as E. nobilis, E. victor,
E. marchionatus, and E. skinneri) to be found in the Florida fossil
record. Eugeniconus irisae occurred together on the Everglades
Pseudoatoll reefs with the closely related E.
paranobilis (Petuch, 1991) (Plate 61, C), with the finely triangle-patterned
E. irisae belonging to the Recent E. victor (Broderip, 1842)
species complex and the coarsely triangle-patterned E. paranobilis belonging
to the Recent E. nobilis (Linnaeus, 1758) species complex. Besides
differences in color pattern, the new species differed spire whorls, and in
being a smoother shell, lacking the prominent fine spiral threads of E.
nobilis.
Petuch characterized the
color pattern of E. irisae as “finely triangle-patterned,” thereby differentiating
it from the “coarsely triangle-patterned” C. paranobilis. Petuch also
differentiated E. irisae from C. paranobilis by noting its “more
slender shell with a narrower shoulder,” its “distinctly canaliculate spire
whorls,” and its “smoother shell”.
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Eugeniconus
irisae |
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12-13.
Holotype of Eugeniconus irisae Petuch, 2004 (AMNH 50681). “Florida Rock Industries, Inc., Naples quarry (old
Mule Pen Quarry), East Naples, Collier County, Florida” (Petuch, 2004: 293).
Tamiami Formation, Pinecrest Beds. SL
29.8 mm; MD 14.7 mm. |
Bibliografia Consultata
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