BOUCHET, Fedosov & Puillandre & Herrmann & Kantor & Oliverio & Dgebuadze & Modica & Bouchet, 2018

& BOUCHET GEN. NOV.

( FIGS 10I–M, 15)

Type species: Mitra sanguinolenta Lamarck, 1811 ; OD, herein.

Diagnosis: Shell small to large (20–90 mm), solid, broadly fusiform, vividly coloured. Protoconch pointed, narrowly conical, of about 3.5 slightly convex, smooth whorls. Suture deeply impressed. Shell proportions variable, spire moderately high to rather low, with ortho- or cyrtoconoid profile. Spire whorls evenly convex to subcylindrical, sometimes distinctly shouldered. Sculpture of very weak and low, flat or rounded, cords separated by shallow depressions or fine grooves. Subsutural area smooth or with one row of short spiny warts or tubercles, giving whorl a somewhat shouldered appearance. Siphonal canal short, with well-developed fasciole usually separated from shell base by narrow concave waist. Siphonal notch deep. Aperture elongate, wide or moderately wide. Outer lip smooth, inner lip with four distinct columellar folds. Rachidian narrow (1/3 of laterals width) to rather wide (exceeding half of laterals width), with five to eight subequal cusps ( Fig. 10I–M). Laterals rather wide, with ten to 14 widely set and triangular, or dense and rather long, pointed cusps distributed throughout tooth width, proximal one to two cusps notably smaller than succeeding ones.

Distribution: Indo-Pacific, upper subtidal depths, mostly on sand.

Species included: Quasimitra albocarnea (Bozzetti, 2016) 3 comb. nov., Q. barbieri ( Poppe & Tagaro, 2006) 3 comb. nov., Q. bovei (Kiener, 1838) 3 comb. nov., Q. brettinghami (E.A. Smith, 1906) 3 comb. nov., Q. cardinalis (Gmelin, 1791) 1 comb. nov., Q. floccata (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. fulgurita (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. lacunosa (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. lamarckii (Deshayes, 1832) 3 comb. nov., Q. latruncularia (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. leforti ( Turner, 2007) 3 comb. nov., Q. manuellae (Cossignani & Cossignani, 2006) 3 comb. nov., Q. marmorea ( Turner, 2007) 3 comb. nov., Q. nubila (Gmelin, 1791) 3 comb. nov., Q. nympha (Reeve, 1845) 3 comb. nov., Q. propinqua (A. Adams, 1853) 3 comb. nov., Q. pseudobovei (T. Cossignani & V. Cossignani, 2005) 3 comb. nov., Q. puncticulata (Lamarck, 1811) 1 comb. nov., Q. punctostriata (A. Adams, 1855) 3 comb. nov., Q. raphaeli (Drivas & Jay, 1990) 3 comb. nov., Q. rinaldii (Turner, 1993) 3 comb. nov., Q. roselineae (Martin & Salisbury, 2013) 3 comb. nov., Q. rossiae (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. sanguinolenta (Lamarck, 1811) 1 comb. nov., Q. sarmientoi ( Poppe, 2008) 3 comb. nov., Q. solida (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov., Q. sophiae (Crosse, 1862) 1 comb. nov., Q. stossieri (Herrmann, 2016) 3 comb. nov., Q. structilis (Herrmann & Salisbury, 2016) 3 comb. nov., Q. variabilis (Reeve, 1844) 3 comb. nov.

Etymology: Latin quasi, meaning appearing like, which refers to the overall shell resemblance with species of the genus Mitra . Gender feminine.

Remarks: The genus Quasimitra gen. nov. is defined primarily based on molecular characters, and there are no apomorphies or clear diagnostic morphological features that support its recognition. Shell proportions and sculpture vary extensively, with two extremes represented by Q. cardinalis and Q. sophiae , the close affinity of which is evidenced by the molecular data. The radulae of studied species generally retain a plesiomorphic morphology and also do not present any notable feature.

We tentatively assign Mitra solida Reeve, 1844 to Quasimitra , because of its characteristic sculpture and colour pattern, although varying notably in shell proportions. Cernohorsky treated Vicimitra prosphora Iredale, 1929 as a junior synonym of M. solida , despite V. prosphora has a smooth, uniformly pale shell, and only superficially resembles M. solida and the other sequenced species here assigned to Quasimitra . At present, we treat V. prosphora as a separate species in a monotypic genus Vicimitra , but the name Vicimitra may prove to be a senior synonym of Quasimitra .

Some species of Strigatella , like S. luctuosa or S. aurantia , bear a remarkable resemblance to Quasimitra in shell outline and can only be distinguished by the generally more flattened spire whorls; at the same time, there is a consistent difference in radular morphology between the two groups: the laterals bear cusps throughout their width in Quasimitra , whereas the distal third of laterals is devoid of cusps in the species of Strigatella mentioned.