Cochlis cuniculata, Harzhauser & Landau & Guzhov, 2025

Cochlis cuniculata nov. sp.

Figs 2A View FIGURE 2 , 4A–D View FIGURE 4

Natica ( Nacca) millepunctata tigrina Defr.— Strausz 1954: 23 View in CoL , pl. 6, figs 133a–d [ non Cochlis tigrina ( Defrance, 1825) View in CoL ]. Natica millepunctata Lamarck, 1822 View in CoL — Strausz 1966: 225 ( pars), pl. 48, figs 5, 9–10 [ non Natica millepunctata Lamarck, 1822 View in CoL

= Naticarius stercusmuscarum ( Gmelin, 1791) View in CoL ].

Type material. Holotype: NHMW 2024 View Materials /0230/0001, SL: 24.7 mm, MD: 25.6 mm, Várpalota ( Hungary), Figs 2A View FIGURE 2 , 4B View FIGURE 4 1 –B View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 . Paratypes: NHMW 2024 View Materials /0230/0002, SL: 27.4 mm, MD: 25.4 mm, Várpalota ( Hungary), Figs 4A View FIGURE 4 1 –A View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 . NHMW 2024 View Materials /0230/0003, SL: 22.7 mm, MD: 23.8 mm, Várpalota ( Hungary), Figs 4C View FIGURE 4 1 –C View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 . NHMW 2024 View Materials /0230/0004, SL: 23.3 mm, MD: 24.2 mm, Várpalota ( Hungary), Figs 4D View FIGURE 4 1 –D View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 .

Additional paratypes. 33 spec., NHMW 2024 View Materials /0230/0005, Várpalota ( Hungary) , 13 spec., NHMW 1997 View Materials z0178/2034, Várpalota ( Hungary) .

Type locality. Várpalota ( Hungary), Pannonian Basin.

Type stratum. Sand of the Öskü Member of the Lajta Formation (Kókay 2013).

Age. Middle Miocene, early Badenian (Langhian).

Etymology. Cuniculus, Latin for tunnel, referring to the deep and open umbilicus.

Diagnosis. Medium sized, globose shell with moderately low spire, narrow subsutural shelf, thin columellar lip and weakly expanding last whorl, umbilicus wide, open with faint, low, very broad funicle.

Description. Medium sized, glossy, globose shell of 4.5 teleoconch whorls; about as wide as high (SL/MD = 1.1–1.0). Spire moderately low with convex whorls; apical angle 113–125°. Protoconch low turbiniform, of ~2 smooth, convex whorls; transition into teleoconch indistinct. Suture linear, adpressed. Teleoconch whorls with narrow, weakly convex subsutural shelf, delimited by faint shoulder angulation. Last whorl weakly expanding, moderately inflated, attaining ~90–92% of total height. Periphery just below mid-whorl (~47%). Growth lines distinct and weakly prosocyrt in apical view, insignificant at periphery. Aperture wide, D-shaped. Position of adapical tip of aperture high (~87%), distinctly above mid-whorl. Aperture attaining ~80% of total height. Columellar lip thin, narrow, weakly reinforced, basal lip slightly expanded, outer lip thin. Columellar angle ~21–29°. Opercular ridge in outer lip indistinct. Umbilicus wide (~45%), deep, with delicate growth lines. Parietal callus moderately long (~41%), slightly thickened, lacking significant anterior lobe. Central funicle very low and broad, poorly developed, occasionally adjoined abapically by faint spiral ridge. Umbilicus with slightly more prominent growth lines. Basal fasciole weak, rounded to weakly angled. Color pattern not preserved in available material. Dense pattern of small dots according to Strausz (1954: pl. 6, fig. 133b). Operculum unknown.

Discussion. This species is the most common Naticidae at Várpalota but has been confused with the northeastern Atlantic, Early Miocene Cochlis tigrina ( Defrance, 1825) , from which it differs clearly in its much wider, open umbilicus with subobsolete funiculus. Cochlis cuniculata nov. sp. is reminiscent of Cochlis eximia ( Eichwald, 1830) , concerning the wide umbilicus and weak funicle. They differ in the more expanding last whorl of C. eximia and its prominent parietal callus with weak anterior lobe. Morphotypes of Cochlis eximia , described as Cochlis odovychenorum by Pedriali et al. (2019), from the late Badenian of the Ukrainian Fore-Carpathian Basin, differ in their distinct anterior lobe of the parietal callus and the more prominent funicle.

Paleoenvironment. Agitated sandy, coastal environments (own data, M.H.).

Distribution in Central Paratethys. Badenian (Middle Miocene): Pannonian Basin: Várpalota ( Hungary) ( hoc opus).