Varioconus guinaicus Tenorio & Abalde & Pardos-Blas & Cmim 2020, comb. nov.
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
Varioconus
Varioconus guinaicus

description: Varioconus guinaicus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) comb. nov.
Fig. 10 L–P
Conus guinaicus Hwass in Bruguière, 1792: 697.
Conus adansonii Lamarck, 1810: 424.
Conus taslei Kiener, 1850: 360, pl. 110, fig. 3.
Conus luridus A. Adams, 1854: 118.
Conus pineaui Pin & Leung Tack in Pin, 1989b: 66, figs 17, 32, 38.
Lautoconus wolof Petuch & Berschauer, 2018: 169, figs 3D–F. syn. nov.
Conus guinaicus – Monteiro et al. 2004: 51, pls 40–42.
Conus taslei – Monteiro et al. 2004: 73, pl. 44.
Conus pineaui – Monteiro et al. 2004: 65, pl. 43.
Material examined
Lectotype
“ GUINEA ” • 43 mm; MHNG-MOLL-52638 (Fig. 10L).
Other material
SENEGAL • 1 spec., 50.2 mm; Ndayane, Petite Côte; 14º33ʹ59ʺ N, 17º8ʹ3ʺ W; 2 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801861; MNCN 15.05/78443 (Fig. 10M) • 1 spec.; Fann, Terrou-Bi, Dakar; 14º40ʹ28ʺ N, 17º28ʹ9ʺ W; 4 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801848; MNCN 15.05/78511 • 1 spec.; Joal-Fadiouth; 14º8ʹ20ʺ N, 16º48ʹ57ʺ W; 2 Jul. 2015; MNCN exped.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: KY801855; MNCN 15.05/78476 • 1 spec.; Ndayane, Petite Côte; 2016; L. Tamagnini leg.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240805; MNCN 15.05/78541 • 1 spec., 28.7 mm, holotype of C. pineaui; Cap de Naze, Popenguine, south of Dakar; 20–30 m depth; MNHN IM-2000-2528 (Fig. 10O).
GAMBIA • 1 spec., 21.1 mm, holotype of Lautoconus wolof; off Tanji Beach; MNHN IM-2000- 2528 (Fig. 10N) • 1 spec.; same locality as for holotype; 19 Feb. 2019; L. Tamagnini leg.; GenBank mitochondrion, partial genome: MT240811; MNCN 15.05/90434.
Geographical distribution
Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. Also reported from Ghana.
Conservation status in IUCN Red List
Vulnerable. Status revision required.
Remarks
This is the most representative taxon of a very compact clade, which includes a number of very closely related species, and certain populations with minimal differences in mitogenome sequences that are now considered synonyms (forms), such as taslei or pineaui (Fig. 10O). All these taxa share the same radular tooth morphology: narrow and elongated radular tooth with the anterior section longer than the posterior section, rounded blade covering less than half of the anterior section, and more than 40 denticles in the serration (Abalde et al. 2017b). The population from Gorée Island, characterized by its dark brown shell, does not correspond to the taxon guinaicus but to its sister species V. franciscanus. The distribution range of V. guinaicus is quite large, from Dakar area south to Guinea including Gambia, and also reported from Ghana. The taxon V. wolof (Fig. 10N), recently described from Gambia, has been sequenced. The sequence of its mitogenome is essentially identical to that of V. guinaicus (Fig. 2). Therefore, this name represents a mere local form of V. guinaicus and is hereby considered a synonym.
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 69-70, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.663, http://zenodo.org/record/3890442