Conus (Purpuriconus) protocardinalis (Petuch, 1991)

 

 

Description (2).

(???) Shell dextral, small. Last whorl broadly conical; outline slightly convex. Shoulder angulate, with weak undulations. Spire high and stepped; outline flat. Teleoconch sutural ramps concave. Subsutural flexure symmetrically curved. Last whorl with raised spiral threads on anterior third.

 

Type observed (2).

(???) Holotype (CM 35693; Pl. 18, Figs 20-21). Shell length 22.0 mm; maximum diameter 11.5 mm; apertural height 15.3 mm, height of maximum diameter 14.1 mm, spire angle 73º. Early teleoconch whorls are missing and preserved whorls are eroded; lip is broken.

 

Occurrence (2).

(???) Holotype is “from canal dredging (20 m depth) along Miami Canal, 1 km north of Broward-Palm Beach County levee in Palm Beach County, Florida” (Petuch, 1991: 54) and is reportedly from the Caloosahatchee Formation. Petuch (1994: pl. 94, fi g. a) figured a second specimen of Conus protocardinalis, which is apparently from his personal collection. He provided the following locality information for this specimen: “Griffin Bros. pit, Holey Land area, Palm Beach Co.” (Petuch, 1994: 230), Florida. No other specimens are known.

 

Remarks (2).

Significant shell damage makes this specimen difficult to evaluate. Several characteristics, however, suggest that it represents a distinctive species. These include the overall shape of the shell, the presence of shoulder undulations, and the presence of a symmetrically curved subsutural flexure. The color pattern described by Petuch (1991: 54; “single band of pale-brown flammules around midbody”) was not observed in the holotype under ultraviolet light and no obvious color patterns are visible in normal light (Pl. 18, Fig. 20 ?). Further exploration of the status of this species will be possible only with the discovery of more fossil material.

 

Petuch compared this species with the extant taxon Conus cardinalis. This shell also resembles the extant taxon C. ammiralis regius Gmelin, 1791.

 

 

Image by Hendricks may be erroneus and refer to Purpuriconus erici (2).

 

 

 

 

Purpuriconus protocardinalis

(Petuch, 1991)

Fort Denaud Member, Caloosahatchee Formation.

Length 26.8 mm

From the Griffin Brothers Pit, Holey Land Wildlife Management Area, southwestern Palm Beach County, Florida.

 

(in Petuch, 2011)

 

Conus cardinalis

 

 

Conus ammiralis regius

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliografia Consultata

 

·         (1) - Petuch, E. J., 1991. W. H. Dall Paleontological Research Center Special Publications Number 1, 1