Kalloconus gallicus Mayer-Eymar 1890
Creators: name: Harzhauser, Mathias
name: Landau, Bernard
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Neogastropoda
Conidae
Kalloconus
Kalloconus gallicus

description: Kalloconus gallicus (Mayer-Eymar, 1890)
Figs 3 K, 10A1–A6
Conus gallicus May.-Eym.— Mayer-Eymar 1890: 295.
Conus gallicus Mayer-Eymar—Mayer-Eymar 1891: 328, pl. 2, fig. 2. C. [onus] (Chelyconus) gallicus Mayer-Eymar, 1890 — Caze et al. 2011: 173, fig. 2J.
Type material. Holotype, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, German: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich), inventory number S2776 (fide Hall 1966); Larriey-Saucats, France; early Miocene, Aquitanian.
Studied material. 1 spec. NHMW 2016 /0036/0001, Nemeşeşti (Romania).
Illustrated material. Figs 10A 1 –A6, 3K: Nemeşeşti (Romania), SL: 50.1 mm, MD: 31.9 mm, NHMW 2016 / 0036/0001.
Revised description. Medium-sized shell; low conical spire with coeloconoid initial part; early spire whorls faintly striate, slightly concave; later whorls weakly convex; suture impressed. Subsutural flexure of medium depth, moderately curved, moderately asymmetrical. Narrow, rounded shoulder, coinciding with position of maximum diameter. Last whorl conical, straight sided with faint constriction at base. Aperture narrow with parallel margins; Siphonal canal short, nearly straight; siphonal fasciole very weak. Few wide-spaced spiral cords on base with weaker cords intercalating. Colour pattern on spire and last whorl consisting of irregular, strongly amalgamating dark blotches and few a light blotches.
Shell measurements and ratios. SL: 50.1 mm, MD: 31.9 mm, spire angle: 123°, last whorl angle: 37°, LW: 1.57, RD: 0.73, PMD: 0.90, RSH: 0.12.
Discussion. This species is characterised by the sloping last spire whorl, the narrow rounded shoulder and the narrow aperture. Nevertheless, the lack of any “extravagant” conchological features might raise doubts about the identification of the middle Miocene Paratethyan shell with an early to middle Miocene species from the northeastern Atlantic. Fortunately, the identification is supported by the unusual colour pattern, which was documented by Caze et al. (2011) also for an early Miocene specimen from the Aquitaine Basin.
Kalloconus tietzei (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) is broader, has a stronger siphonal fasciole, a wider anterior part of the aperture and differs in its colour pattern of spiral dashes. Some specimens of Kalloconus berghausi (Michelotti, 1847), as illustrated by Davoli (1972), develop a comparable outline but differ in their wider last whorl aside from the punctate colour pattern of K. berghausi. The occurrence of this species in the Pliocene of the Mediterranean Sea will need confirmation. The specimens from Asti (Italy) described by Hall (1966) agree in shape but no information on colour patterns is available. Other Pliocene specimens described as Conus gallicus by Muñiz-Solís (1999) and Paganelli (2014) are rather slender and have less sloping shoulders.
Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Transylvanian Basin: Nemeşeşti (Romania) (own data).
Proto-Mediterranean Sea and northeastern Atlantic. early Miocene (Aquitanian, Burdigalian): Aquitaine Basin: Larriey, Saucats, Merignac (Mayer-Eymar 1890); Turin Hills: Termofourà (Italy) (Hall 1966);? Pliocene: Po Basin: Asti (Italy) (Hall 1966).
description: Published as part of Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2016, A revision of the Neogene Conidae and Conorbidae (Gastropoda) of the Paratethys Sea, pp. 1-178 in Zootaxa 4210 (1) on page 60, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4210.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/252966