Conus anningae (Hendricks, 2015)

 

 

Description

 

Shell size. Shell moderately small (largest observed specimen, PRI 66141, is 30.3 mm). Last whorl. Conoid-cylindrical (RD 0.50–0.53, μ = 0.52; PMD 0.82–0.85, μ = 0.84; n = 3); outline slightly convex, except at anterior quarter, which is slightly concave. Shoulder subangulate; smooth. Widest part of shell below shoulder. Aperture slightly wider at base than near shoulder. Siphonal notch absent. Spiral threads on anterior third. Spire whorls. Spire height low (RSH 0.10–0.11, μ = 0.10; n = 3); outline sigmoidal. Protoconch with >3 whorls (based on PRI 66141), diameter 0.7–0.8 mm (based on all three known specimens); protrudes above subsequent whorls. Tubercles present on first 0.5–2 postnuclear whorls, becoming weakly undulate on following several whorls before diminishing. Sutural ramp concave on early whorls, convex on later whorls, with multiple spiral threads. Subsutural

flexure asymmetrical, depth about equal to width (1).

 

Coloration pattern. Two weakly interacting patterns present. PRI 66141 (holotype; Fig. 10A-E) and PRI 67567 (Fig. 10F,G) appear to have a solidly pigmented primary (base) pattern that extends from the anterior end to the shoulder; in PRI 67569 (Fig. 10H-J), this primary pattern is restricted to two pigmented bands that each cover about one-fifth of the last whorl. The secondary pattern consists of 5 or at least 6 (PRI 67567 and PRI 66141, respectively) to as many as 19 (PRI 67569) spiral rows of square-shaped dots. Interaction between the two patterns occurs when the spiral dots intersect the base pattern, resulting in unpigmented spaces between the spiral dots (e.g., see anterior band on Fig. 10H). The two patterns differ in the color of emitted light. Sutural ramp with radial streaks that correspond with the shape of the subsutural flexure (1).

 

Etymology

Named for Mary Anning (1799–1847) in honor of the important fossil discoveries that she made at Lyme Regis, England. Anning is the person referred to in Terry Sullivan’s famous tongue-twister “she sells seashells on the seashore” (1).

 

 

Material examined

 

Holotype: PRI 66141.

Paratypes: PRI 67567, PRI 67569.

All type specimens are from TU station 1215.

 

Type locality and horizon

TU 1215: Río Gurabo, Dominican Republic; lower Pliocene Gurabo Formation.

 

Remarks

The preserved coloration pattern of paratype PRI 67569 (Fig. 10H-J) differs significantly from that of the other two known specimens in the number of spiral rows of dots (see above), but this shell is otherwise consistent in other aspects of shell form. It is assumed, therefore, that these differences in coloration pattern amount to intraspecific variation and that all three specimens belong to the same species. Comparison with Kohn reveals that Conus anningae is not similar in shell morphology to any extant western Atlantic cone snail species, nor is it similar to any other known extant or fossil species. It may therefore represent an extinct lineage of Conidae (1).

 

 

 

 

Conus anningae

 

All specimens are from locality station TU 1215 (Gurabo Fm.)

(A-E) PRI 66141 (holotype), SL 30.3 mm;

(F-G) PRI 67567 (paratype), SL 19.2 mm;

(H-J) PRI 67569 (paratype), SL 25.2 mm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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”