Conasprella minutissima
Creators: name: Harzhauser, Mathias
name: Landau, Bernard
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Neogastropoda
Conidae
Conasprella
Conasprella minutissima

description: Conasprella minutissima nov. sp.
Figs 3 E, 4G1–G3, 4H1–H3, 4I 1–I5
Holotype: Figs 4 I1–I5: SL: 13.1, MD: 6.3 mm, NHMW 1869 /0001/0331a, Steinebrunn (Austria).
Paratype: Figs 4 H1–H3: SL: 10.6, MD: 5.1 mm, NHMW 1869 /0001/0331b, Steinebrunn (Austria).
Paratype: Figs 3 E, 4G1–G3: SL: 10.4, MD: 4.7 mm, NHMW 1869 /0001/0331c, Steinebrunn (Austria).
Additional material: 2 spec. NHMW 1869/0001/0331d, 1 spec. NHMW 1858 /0029/0017, Steinebrunn (Austria); 1 spec. NHMW 1870 /0054/0044, Niederleis (Austria); 1 spec. NHMW 1869 /0001/0627, Marz (Austria).
Type stratum: Bioclastic sand and marl of the Baden Group.
Type locality: Steinebrunn (Austria).
Age: Middle Miocene, middle Badenian (= late Langhian).
Etymology. Referring to the small size.
Description. Very small, slender biconical shells. High, scalariform spire of at least 7 teleoconch whorls. Spire whorls carinate just above suture, weakly tuberculate; sutural ramp distinctly striate. Impressed, somewhat irregular suture. Last whorl with flat to faintly concave sutural ramp, weakly striate. Subsutural flexure shallow, strongly curved, moderately asymmetrical. Last whorl elongate conical to weakly ventricose below angulated shoulder; slightly constricted at base. Aperture with subparallel margins; short wide siphonal canal. Siphonal fasciole obsolete. Sculpture consisting of about 15–20 spiral cords with spirally elongate beads. Spiral sculpture overlays much weaker growth lines forming a faintly cancellate pattern. Spirals become crowded on base where beads are only weakly developed. Colour pattern in UV light consisting of a few large, widely-spaced subquadratic blotches on sutural ramp of last whorl and weaker blotches on spire whorls; beads on last whorl appear as dots on thin spirals.
Shell measurements and ratios. n = 5: largest specimen: SL: 13.1 mm, MD: 6.3 mm, mean SL: 10.4 (σ = 0.8), mean MD: 5.1 (σ = 0.7), spire angle: µ = 63.2° (σ = 8.5°), last whorl angle: µ = 32.4° (σ = 2.4°), LW: µ = 2.04 (σ = 0.13), RD: µ = 0.68 (σ = 0.03), PMD: µ = 0.81 (σ = 0.09), RSH: µ = 0.28 (σ = 0.04).
Discussion. This tiny species was mixed with Artemidiconus stachei in the NHMW collections, probably due to its small size and beaded sculpture. The scalariform spire and the lack of spiral cords on the spire whorls, however, allow a clear separation. Conasprella berwerthi (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) develops a similar but coarser sculpture on the last whorl. Moreover, it differs in its lower spire, the much broader last whorl and it lacks subquadratic blotches on the sutural ramp. Phasmoconus ottiliae (Hoernes & Auinger, 1879) lacks the scalariform spire outline, has an elongate last whorl, a denser spiral sculpture, lacks the prominent beads and differs in its colour pattern of dense spirals.
Paleoenvironment. The occurrence at Steinebrunn suggests seagrass meadows in shallow marine nearshore settings as habitat.
Distribution in Paratethys. Badenian (middle Miocene): Vienna Basin: Niederleis (Austria), Steinebrunn (Austria); Eisenstadt Sopron Basin: Marz, Forchtenau (Austria).
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 pages 42-43, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4210.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/252966