Pustulatirus utilaensis Snyder, 2013, new species
Creators: name: Lyons And Martin Avery Snyder, William G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Neogastropoda
Fasciolariidae
Pustulatirus
Pustulatirus utilaensis

description: Pustulatirus utilaensis new species
(Figures 32–37)
Latirus virginensis Abbott, 1958 —K. and L. Sunderland, 1996: 17, 2 figs. Non Latirus virginensis Abbott, 1958, Recent, eastern Caribbean.
Description: Shell small for genus (largest 31.6 x 11.5 mm), moderately fusiform, with rounded whorls, broad, somewhat adapically shouldered axial ribs, low spiral cords, shallow suture, and narrow sutural ramp bearing closely-packed axial lamellae. Protoconch of about 2 whorls; first whorl smooth, broadly globose, with rounded sides; second whorl no wider than first, with straight sides, about 4 broad axial riblets near terminus. Teleoconch of 6 to 7 rapidly expanding convex whorls, each with 8 or 9 broad axial ribs, whorls separated by well-developed suture; suture undulant in accord with adjacent ribs and interspaces; 5 subequal spiral cords on first whorl, becoming more numerous on each succeeding whorl, 10-11 cords on penultimate whorl and 14–16 on body whorl; cords on sutural ramp low, parallel to and undulant in concert with suture, and crossed by numerous welldeveloped subsutural lamellae; cords crossing ribs larger than those of ramp, sometimes with single spiral threads between; 6 or more oblique cords of unequal size on siphonal process, occasionally with single smaller threads between, larger oblique cords raised at intersections with subaxial growth lines, forming lamella-like scales, similar scales sometimes on anterior-most cord of body whorl. Aperture ovate, constricted adapically by thick parietal node and abapically by tooth-like node opposite fold at base of columella; outer lip broadly arcuate, crenulated by extensions of interspaces between spiral cords, inner surface with 10–12 beaded lirae; columella with 2 or 3 oblique plicae, sometimes with smaller plicae adapically; siphonal canal typical of genus, outer lip thin, crenulated by termini of interspaces between larger dorsal cords, inner lip simple, straight, slightly raised, sometimes forming shallow pseudoumbilicus near tip. Outer shell surface uniformly reddish brown or dark brown, interior white. Operculum thin, corneous, yellow or light brown, ovate, with anterior terminal nucleus, outer surface with many arcuate growth increments. Radula unknown.
Type Material: Holotype 29.2 x 11.2 mm (Figures 32–34), lv, off Sandy Key Reef, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, depth 70 ft [21.4 m], ANSP 449739. Paratypes: Honduras —5, 28.6, 25.8 and 24.0 mm, lv, 2, 13.4 and 13.2 mm, dd, with same data as holotype, SC; 4, 26.6 (Figure 35), 22.6, 18.9 and 18.9 mm, lv, from live reef off southwestern coast of Utila, 40–60 ft [12.2–18.3m], ANSP 449664; 2, 27.1 and 16.7 mm, lv, high-profile reef at Utila, 65 ft [19.8 m], LC; 1, 26.5 mm, lv, same data, USNM 1192971; 1, 30.4 mm, lv, southern coast of Utila, outcrop of rock wall, 40 ft [12.2 m], MNHN 25670; 5, 27.2, 25.9, 25.4, 20.9 and 18.4 mm, lv, same data, LC; 1, 28.4 mm, lv, same data, BMSM 17940; 1, 22.3 mm, lv, off Oyster Bed Lagoon, Utila, coral reef at night, 10-15 m, ANSP 449741; 1, 14.0 mm, lv, Ragged Cay, Utila, reef at night, 12 m, ANSP 449740; 1, 15.5 mm, dd, Ragged Cay, Utila, reef at night, 13 m, ANSP 449742; 2, 21.7 and 16.7 mm, dd, Utila, high profile reef at night, 65 ft (19.8 m), LC; 2, 28.3 and 26.0 mm, lv, Utila, UF 455468; 1, 26.5 mm, lv, Utila, NHMUK 20120249; 1, 22.1 mm, lv, Utila, 20–30 ft [6.1–9.1 m], diver, 5/2008, ANSP 449743; 1, 17.5 mm, lv, Utila, 20 ft [6.1 m], night dive, LC; 2, 16.0 and 14.1 mm, dd, Utila, 60 ft [18.3 m], ANSP 449662; 1, 17.0 mm, dd, Utila, reef, ANSP 449660; 1, 25.4 mm, lv, pillar coral reef, Roatán, Honduras, 30 ft [9.1 m], UF 455471; 1, 25.4 mm, lv, reef at Roatán, 40 ft [12.2 m], LC; 1, 31.6 mm (Figures 36–37), lv, Roatán, living reef, 10-12 m, ANSP 449659. Panamá —1, 21.6 mm, dd, Isla Escudo de Veraguas, eastern Panamá, depth 12-15 m, under rocks, ANSP 449661; 1, 22.3 mm, dd, same data, LC; 1, 22.1 mm, dd, Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panamá, 20-25 m, ANSP 449663.
Other Material: Honduras —1 worn shell, 27.2 mm, dd, Utila, live reef off southwestern coast, 12.2–18.3 m, LC; 1 shell with broken apex, 21.6 mm, dd, Utila, reef, LC; 3 broken or encrusted shells, 25.5 and 23.3 mm, dd and 21.1 mm, lv, same data as holotype, SC.
Type Locality: Off Sandy Cay Reef, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, depth 21.4 m.
Etymology: The species is named for the island of Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, Caribbean Sea, where it seems to be most abundant.
Distribution: Known principally from vicinity of Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, depth range: 6.1–21.4 m; three specimen examined were from nearby Roatán, Honduras, and three more were from Isla Escudo de Veraguas, eastsoutheast of Bocas del Toro, Panamá.
Remarks:All Honduran shells of P. utilaensis are identical morphologically, differing only in color related to their localities of capture. Specimens from Utila are consistently reddish brown, but all six shells from Roatán, Honduras and Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panamá are dark brown. The Panamá shells are more worn and smooth, but their patterns of ribs and cords as well as their size and general outlines are consistent with those of Honduran specimens and we believe them to be conspecific.
Morphological features of P. utilaensis are consistent within parameters defined in the description, and unworn shells never have smooth surfaces or lighter colored axial ribs like those that often occur on P. virginensis, whose shells are often larger than the maximum length known for P. utilaensis. Shells of P. utilaensis also resemble the type of P. attenuatus, but the latter is a relatively more slender shell with axial ribs that are less shouldered adapically; P. utilaensis shells are consistently reddish brown or dark brown whereas the type of P. attenuatus is yellow with white ribs on early adapical whorls.
description: Published as part of Lyons And Martin Avery Snyder, William G., 2013, The Genus Pustulatirus Vermeij and Snyder, 2006 (Gastropoda: Fasciolariidae: Peristerniinae) in the Western Atlantic, with Descriptions of Three New Species, pp. 35-58 in Zootaxa 3636 (1) on pages 43-45, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.283572