Pustulatirus biocellatus 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 biocellatus

description: Pustulatirus biocellatus new species
(Figures 46–51)
Latirus virginensis Abbott, 1958 —Bullock, 1968: 72, 73, 99, 101, pl. 4, fig. 1. Matthews, 1968: 248. Non Latirus virginensis Abbott, 1958, Recent, eastern Caribbean.
Latirus (Polygona) virginensis Abbott, 1958 —Rios, 1970: 96 (pars). Rios, 1975: 104 (pars), pl. 29, fig. 440; Rios, 1985: 107 (pars), pl. 36, fig. 471; Rios, 1994: 133 (pars), pl. 42, fig. 575; Rios, 2009: 253 (pars), figs. Non Latirus (Polygona) virginensis Abbott, 1958, Recent, eastern Caribbean.
Latirus eppi Melvill, 1891 —Mallard and Robin, 2005: pl. 43, figs. (pars; 17-mm shell from Brazil only). Non Latirus eppi Melvill, 1891, Recent, Curaçao.
Pustulatirus eppi (Melvill, 1891) —Vermeij and Snyder, 2006: 421, fig. 4C, pars. Non Pustulatirus eppi (Melvill, 1891), Recent, Curaçao.
Description: Shell small for genus (largest 30.0 x 13.8 mm), solid, broadly fusiform. Protoconch of about 2 rounded whorls; first whorl smooth, second with 2 or 3 broad axial riblets on last quarter whorl; riblets increasing in strength toward junction with teleoconch. Teleoconch of as many as 7 whorls bearing prominent broad, wellrounded axial ribs crossed by low, smooth spiral cords; cords diminishing in strength abapically, causing shell surface to appear smooth; whorls 1 and 2 each with 7 or 8 ribs, subsequent whorls each with 6 or 7 ribs; about 3 evenly spaced cords on whorls 1 and 2, joined by 2 or 3 more broad, low cords on sutural ramp of whorl 3, number of cords increasing to about 14 on body whorl of largest shell; most body whorl cords very low and indistinct, presence of some indicated only by color changes atop ribs; 3 to 5 stronger, oblique cords atop siphonal process, sometimes with 1 to 3 faint spiral threads between. Aperture ovo-elongate, constricted adapically by callosity on parietal shield and abapically by prominent node at junction with siphonal canal; outer lip arcuate, serrate on mature shells, particularly on abapical edge in response to termini of extensions between spiral cords of body whorl and outer edge of siphon, inner side with 7 to 11 (usually 8 or 9) well-spaced, strongly beaded lirae, most evident on fully developed lip; inner lip and parietal shield adherent; columella straight, with 4 distinct plicae adapical to entrance fold of short, straight siphonal canal. Shell exterior reddish brown, with creamy white node-like ribs, light-colored ribs of body whorl crossed by narrow brown band, producing two distinctive spots on each rib; some mature shells uncommonly with ribs of body whorl tan, not white, rendering “biocellate” effect less evident; interior of shell white except for brown band at edge of outer lip. Operculum corneous, narrow, with anterior terminal nucleus, outer surface covered with many indistinct, concentric, arcuate growth increments. Radula unknown.
Type Material: Northeastern Brazil — Holotype 30.0 x 13.8 mm (Figures 46–48), dd, off Natal, Estado Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, depth 10–15 m, MZUSP 108767. Paratypes: 1, 24.0 mm (Figure 51), dd, off Camocim, Estado Ceará, 15–25 m, diver, 2007, ANSP 422778; 1, 26.4 mm, dd, off Camocim, 20-25 m, in octopus pot, LC; 1, 22.1mm, dd, same data, LC; 1, 27.2 mm, dd, off Camocim, 20-25 m, SC; 1, 25.3 mm, dd in octopus pot, off Camocim, 20–35 m, BMSM 17941; 1, 21.2 mm, dd in octopus pot, off Camocim, 20–35 m, NHMUK 20120248; 1, 22.9 mm, dd, off Camocim, 25-30 m, USNM 1192973; 1, 28.3 mm, crabbed in octopus pot, dd, off Camocim, 25- 35 m, LC; 1, 27.7 mm, dd ex pisce, off Fortaleza, Estado Ceará, 16 m, 7/1968, ANSP 449751; 1, 25.8 mm, dd ex pisce, off Fortaleza, 12 fm (22 m), AMNH 140147; 1, 23.5 mm, dd, off Rio do Fogo, north of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 15–25 m, sand under rock, 2008, ANSP 422777; 2, 16.0 and 20.6 mm, dd, off Rio do Fogo, north of Natal, 15-25 m, UF 455470; 1, 23.7 mm, dd, north of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 10–15 m, MNHN 25671; 1, 15.6 mm, dd, north of Natal, 10-15 m, sand under rock, diver, 1999, ANSP 449750; 1, 11.1 mm, dd, north of Natal, 10-15 m, sand under rock, 2000, ANSP 449749; 7, 18.1, 17.1, 17.0, 16.8, 15.7, 12.2 and 10.4 mm, lv, north of Natal, 10–15 m, sand under rock, 2007, ANSP 421133; 1, 22.1 mm, dd, north of Natal, 10–15 m, SC; 1, 18.0 mm, lv, north of Natal, 25 m, 11/2003, ANSP 449746; 1, 15.8 mm, lv, Rio Grande do Norte, reef, 10-20 m, UF 455467; 1, 17.0 mm, lv, Rio Grande do Norte, 10-20 m, ANSP 449747; 1, 26.7 mm, dd, off Alcobaça, Estado Bahía, 20-25 m, LC; 2, 26.5 (Figures 49–50) and 21.7 mm, dd, off Alcobaça, Bahía, Brazil, 40-45 m, ANSP 449745.
Other Material: Northeastern Brazil —23, 15.4, 15.3, 14.3, 14.8, 14.3, 13.8, 13.7, 13.6, 13.5, 13.2, 13.2, 13.0, 12.8, 12.6, 12.5, 12.5, 12.3, 12.0, 11.9, 11.7, 11.1, 10.0 and 8.6 mm, dd, north of Natal, 10-15 m, sand under rock, 2004, ANSP 449753; 2, dd, 17.3 and 17.0 mm, north of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 10–15 m, LC; 1 lv, 16.8 mm, 13 dd, 10.2-21.1 mm, north of Natal, 10–15 m; 7 lv, 13.3-15.6 mm, Rio Grande do Norte, 10-20 m, LC; 2, 13.6 and 15.5 mm, lv, Rio Grande do Norte, 25 m LC. Venezuela? (records considered spurious)—1, 16.1 mm, lv, Los Roques Islands, Venezuela, 6 m, LC; 1, 10.2 mm, dd, off Los Roques Islands, dredged, 200 m, 2006, ANSP 449752.
Type Locality: Off Natal, Estado Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, 10– 15 m.
Etymology: The species name, an adjective, is composed of the prefix bi-, meaning two, the Latin noun ocellus, meaning little eye, and the suffix - atus, - a, - um, meaning “provided with,” referring to the pattern of paired spots on the body whorl.
Distribution: Off Camocim, Ceará southward to Alcobaça, Bahía, Brazil; depth range 10– 45 m.
Remarks: Pustulatirus biocellatus seems relatively common in moderate depths (10–45 m) on the inner continental shelf off of the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, and Bahía in northeastern Brazil. We examined two shells labeled “off Los Roques, Venezuela,” depths 6 m and 200 m, but we consider those data suspect and requiring confirmation.
This species was reported and figured as P. e p p i (Melvill, 1891) by Vermeij and Snyder (2006), and Brazilian shells have been offered for sale as “ Latirus ” eppi, or sometimes as L. cf. L. eppi, for more than a decade. Between 1968 and 1994, records of the species were mistakenly reported as L. virginensis Abbott, 1958 (see synonymy). Recently, Rios (2009) reported and figured Brazilian specimens as L. (Polygona) virginensis, and then cited L. eppi as a junior synonym. However, we have found no valid record of the occurrence of either of those Caribbean species in Brazil, and we reject that synonymy.
The pattern of spots on the body whorl immediately distinguishes P. biocellatus from P. eppi and P. virginensis. Although their shells are similar in size, P. biocellatus has more rounded whorls, deeper sutures, and more conspicuous spiral cords than P. e p p i. Shells of P. virginensis are larger and more attenuate than P. biocellatus, with longer, narrower ribs and a relatively longer and more slender siphonal process.
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 48-49, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.283572