Conus (Pseudonoduloconus) wagneri   (Boetger, 1902)

Revised description ⁽²⁾.

Stout, biconical shell with moderately high, coeloconoid to conical spire; spire whorls with bulgy rim along lower suture and shallow mid-whorl concavity; striate. Subsutural flexure moderately deep, asymmetrically curved. Blurred nodes on shoulder, causing strongly undulating suture. Distinctly angulated shoulder; last whorl slightly ventricose, weakly constricted at base; entirely covered by very weak spiral cords. Siphonal fasciole weakly swollen and twisted. Aperture and siphonal canal largely destroyed. No colour pattern preserved ⁽²⁾.

Shell measurements and ratios. SL: 15.0 mm, MD:. 8.5 mm, spire angle: 85°, last whorl angle: 50°, LW: 1.76, RD: 0.79, PMD: 1.09, RSH: 0.28 ⁽²⁾.

Discussion ⁽²⁾.

This is a poorly known species, documented only by its holotype, which might represent a subadult specimen. Despite the small size, the sculpture of the spire whorls suggests a placement in Pseudonoduloconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 . The lack of tubercles on early spire whorls does not contradict this allocation as the extant type species P. carnalis ( Sowerby III, 1879) lacks tubercles as well. Nevertheless, this feature allows a separation from the two other Paratethyan species of this genus, which both have strongly tuberculate early spire whorls. Hence, we can exclude that the shell is just a juvenile of P. austriacus ( Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) or P. gastaldii ( Michelotti, 1847) ⁽²⁾.

Kovács & Balász (2016) treated Conus wagneri Boettger, 1902 as a junior synonym of Conilithes granularis (Borson) as Artemidiconus granularis ( Borson, 1820) ]. In our opinion, both taxa differ considerably in outline and spire sculpture. Especially the nodulose shoulder and the moderately deep and asymmetrical subsutural flexure of P. wagneri differ considerably from A. granularis . Moreover, it lacks the characteristic beads on the last whorl of A. granularis .

Paleoenvironment. Unknown ⁽²⁾.

Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Transylvanian Basin: Coşteiu de Sus ( Romania) ( Boettger 1902) ⁽²⁾.

Bibliografia Consultata

• (1) - Boettger, O., 1902. Zur Kenntnis der Fauna der Mittelmiocänen Schichten von Kostej im Krassó-Szörénver Komitat. Verhandlungen und Mitteilungen des Siebenbürgischen vereins für Naturwissenschaften zu Hermannstadt, 51: 1 -200

• (2) - MATHIAS HARZHAUSER & BERNARD LANDAU A revision of the Neogene Conidae and Conorbidae (Gastropoda) of the Paratethys Sea

• (3) - Kovacs, Z. & Balasz, P. (2016) Conidae (Neogastropoda) assemblage from the Middle Miocene of the Faget Basin (Romania) in the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica, 32, 11 - 48 (note: this paper appeared too late to be adequately integrated in our revision).

• (4) - Z. Kovács & Z. Vicián (2023) “New Conorbidae and Conidae (Conoidea, Neogastropoda) records from the Middle Miocene of Hungary”

• (5) - F. Davoli, "Conidae (Gastropoda) in E. Montanaro Gallitelli (ed.). Studi monografici sulla malacologia miocenica modenese. Parte I - I Molluschi tortoniani di Montegibbio", Paleontographia Italica, 68, 1972, pp. 51-143