Africonus fuscoflavus
Creators: name: Tenorio, Manuel J.
name: Abalde, Samuel
name: Pardos-Blas, José R.
name: Zardoya, Rafael
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Neogastropoda
Conidae
Africonus
Africonus fuscoflavus

description: Africonus fuscoflavus (Röckel, Rolán & Monteiro, 1980)
Fig. 4E
Conus fuscoflavus Röckel et al., 1980a: 71, figs 38–41.
Conus messiasi Rolán & Fernandes in Rolán, 1990: 17, pl. 1, fig. 6.
Conus fantasmalis Rolán, 1990: 37, pl. 1, fig. 8.
Africonus silviae Cossignani, 2014: 19.
Africonus cristinapessoae Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2017a: 27. syn. nov.
Africonus gallopalvoi Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2017a: 31. syn. nov.
Africonus tarafensis Cossignani & Fiadeiro, 2018c: 32. syn. nov.
Conus fuscoflavus – Monteiro et al. 2004: 46, pl. 106.
Conus messiasi – Monteiro et al. 2004: 59, pl. 105.
Conus fantasmalis – Monteiro et al. 2004: 43, pl. 113.
Material examined
Holotype
CABO VERDE • 20.3 mm; Boa Vista Island, Sal Rei; NMSF.
Other material
CABO VERDE • 1 spec., 22.3 mm; Boa Vista Island, Derrubado (bay East); 16º13ʹ33ʺ N, 22º47ʹ3ʺ W; 1 Jul. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491557; MNCN 15.05/80407 (Fig. 4E) • 1 spec.; same collection data as for preceding; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491558; MNCN 15.05/80408 • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Ponta Antónia; 16º13ʹ24ʺ N, 22º46ʹ59ʺ W; 1 Jul. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491559; MNCN 15.05/80408 • 1 spec.; Boa Vista Island, Morro de Areia; 16º5ʹ24ʺ N, 22º57ʹ7ʺ W; 21 Apr. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491592; MNCN 15.05/79947 • 1 spec.; Maio Island, Porto Cais; 15º19ʹ15ʺ N, 23º11ʹ10ʺ W; 31 Mar. 2013; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MF491524; MNCN 15.05/78695 • 1 spec., 24.5 mm, holotype of Africonus cristinapessoae; Boa Vista Island, Varandinha; MMM • 1 spec., 17.8 mm, holotype of Africonus gallopalvoi; Boa Vista Island, Varandinha; MMM • 1 spec., 25 mm, holotype of Africonus tarafensis; Boa Vista Island, Baixa de Padaroso; MMM.
Geographical distribution
Multiple localities around Boa Vista Island and north Maio Island (Baía do Navío Quebrado and Praia Real), Cabo Verde Archipelago.
Conservation status in IUCN Red List
Least concern.
Remarks
Africonus fuscoflavus is the most senior name applicable to a clade composed of individuals from a number of populations of cones distributed around Boa Vista and north Maio Island. Most of these populations had been introduced as separate species based upon their distinctive shell patterns. All of them share the same elongated radular tooth morphology observed in A. fuscoflavus (Abalde et al. 2017a). Representative
specimens of these taxa examined molecularly exhibit mitogenome sequences with little divergences with respect to that of A. fuscoflavus, and can be considered conspecific. Additionally, the type material of both A. cristinapessoae and A. gallopalvoi is consistent with the taxon A. fuscoflavus bearing a characteristic pattern of very fine brown axial lines. The recently described A. tarafensis was compared by the authors to A. delanoyae, which has similar shell pattern. However, the shell profile is even more consistent with that of A. fuscoflavus. We therefore consider A. tarafensis as another patterned form of A. fuscoflavus, morphologically similar to the population from Ponta Antónia (very close to Baía do Tarafe, in Derrubado area) included in our phylogeny, and initially identified A. cf. delanoyae (Abalde et al. 2017a). We can conclude that A. fuscoflavus is another example of a polymorphic species, comprising several well-defined forms with characteristic shell patterns, sharing the same radular morphology and mitogenome sequence. The distribution range for this species is now expanded and includes the islands of Boa Vista and Maio.
description: Published as part of Tenorio, Manuel J., Abalde, Samuel, Pardos-Blas, José R. & Zardoya, Rafael, 2020, Taxonomic revision of West African cone snails (Gastropoda: Conidae) based upon mitogenomic studies: implications for conservation, pp. 1-89 in European Journal of Taxonomy 663 (663) on pages 25-28, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.663, http://zenodo.org/record/3890442