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Conus (Lautoconus) kovacsi (Harzhauser & Landau, 2016)
Description.
Small, globose shells with mammillate, moderately high spires and convex last whorls. Early spire whorls pointed but usually eroded; later spire whorls faintly striate to smooth, weakly to strongly convex, partly bulgy, forming conical to cyrtoconoid, gradate spire; suture deeply incised, not channelled. Subsutural flexure shallow, moderately curved, moderately asymmetrical. Last whorl with weakly angulated shoulder, position of maximum diameter slightly below shoulder. Inflated to cylindrical below shoulder and rapidly contracting in lower half of shell. Strongly constricted at base separating a comparatively narrow and moderately long, weakly recurved siphonal canal. Few spiral cords on base; faint spiral cords may appear on entire last whorl.
Siphonal fasciole nearly absent. Colour pattern very strong in UV light, consisting of four broad bands of partly amalgamated and partly well separated blotches; first one closely below shoulder, second one slightly above midwhorl, third one below mid-whorl above constriction, fourth one on base and siphonal channel. Blotches of the uppermost band continue as narrower flammulae on the last spire whorl; additional wide-spaced flammulae on spire whorls (1).
This strange species was identified by Kovacs & Vician (2013) as Varioconus taurinensis (Bellardi & Michelotti, 1840), which develops also a weakly gradate spire but differs in its elongate and straight-sided last whorl (1).
Etymology. In honour of Zoltán Kovács (Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest), who published the milestone paper “ Kovács & Vicián 2013 ” on the Badenian Conidae from Letkés.
Discussion. This is a very peculiar small cone, which is characterised by its globose, columbellid shape unknown from any other Paratethyan species. It is reminiscent of some species of the Indo-West Pacific genus Pseudolilliconus Tucker & Tenorio, 2009, such as Pseudolilliconus traillii (Adams, 1855) and Pseudolilliconus wallacei (Lorenz & Morrison, 2004), but the much larger size of the Paratethyan species makes a direct relation with this tiny cone genus unlikely (1).
This strange species was identified by Kovacs & Vician (2013) as Varioconus taurinensis (Bellardi & Michelotti, 1840), which develops also a weakly gradate spire but differs in its elongate This strange species was identified by Kovacs & Vician (2013) as Varioconus taurinensisand straight-sided last whorl (see Landau et al. 2013 and references therein). Artemidiconus dertogranularis (Sacco, 1893), from the Tortonian of Stazzano in Italy, is slightly similar in shape and size but differs in its typical midwhorl groove on the spire whorls (1).
This species is known so far only from Letkes (1).
A non-Paratethyan occurrence, however, might be represented by the specimen illustrated in Peyrot (1931, pl. 2, fig. 11) as Conus mucronatolaevis globospira (Sacco) from the Langhian of Salies-de-Bearn in the Aquitaine Basin. Conus mucronatolaevis globospira Sacco, 1893, from the Burdigalian of the Turin Hills, differs clearly in its much more elongate last whorl (1).
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Al centro e a destra: Conus cf. kovacsi. Molto simile al Conus kovacsi, potrebbe essere una varietà determinata dalla diversa località e dalla diversa epoca geologica. |
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Bibliografia Consultata
