Euspira vinitor, Harzhauser & Landau & Guzhov, 2025

Euspira vinitor nov. sp.

Figs 46A–C View FIGURE 46

Natica helicina Brocc.—Hörnes 1856: 525 View in CoL ( pars), pl. 47, fig. 6 [not fig. 7 = Euspira eblera ( De Gregorio, 1885) ].

Type material. Holotype: NHMW 1851 View Materials /0002/0076a, SL: 23.1 mm, MD: 22.6 mm, Grund ( Austria), Figs 46B View FIGURE 46 1 –B View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 . Paratypes: NHMW 1851 View Materials /0002/0076b, SL: 27.9 mm, MD: 23.5 mm, Grund ( Austria), illustrated in Hörnes (1856: pl. 47, fig. 6), Figs 46A View FIGURE 46 1 –A View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 . NHMW 1851 View Materials /0002/0076c, SL: 30.3 mm, MD: 27.6 mm, Grund ( Austria), Figs 46C View FIGURE 46 1 –C View FIGURE 1 4 View FIGURE 4 .

Type locality. Grund ( Austria), North Alpine-Carpathian Foreland Basin .

Type stratum. Silty sand of the Grund Formation.

Age. Middle Miocene, early Badenian (Langhian).

Etymology. Vinitor, Latin for winemaker (noun in apposition), referring to the occurrence in the wine cellars in the region of Grund ( Austria).

Diagnosis. Medium sized, ovate shell with elevated spire and strongly convex spire whorls, high last spire whorl; umbilicus narrow, largely covered by trigonal umbilical callus, fused with thick parietal callus with straight margin.

Description. Medium sized, ovate, solid shell of ~4.5 teleoconch whorls; usually slightly higher than wide (SL/MD = 1.0–1.2). Protoconch high conical, of> two moderately convex whorls, poorly preserved. Spire elevated, high to moderately high conical with strongly convex whorls; apical angle 92–100°. Suture linear, distinctly incised. Teleoconch whorls lacking subsutural shelf and shoulder angulation. Last whorl weakly expanding, attaining ~85–90% of total height, weakly convex below adapical suture, strongly convex at periphery and base. Periphery below mid-whorl (~41%). Growth lines delicate, prosocyrt in apical view, prosocline at periphery. Aperture moderately narrow, D-shaped, prosocline. Position of adapical tip of aperture low (~70%), below periphery of penultimate whorl. Aperture attaining ~61–70% of total height. Columellar lip and basal lip reinforced, outer lip thin. Columellar angle ~21–31°. Opercular ridge in outer lip insignificant. Umbilicus moderately narrow (~11%), deep with prominent growth lines. Parietal callus strongly thickened, not expanding over base, with straight margin. Anterior lobe of parietal callus thickened, not expanding, poorly delimited from parietal callus. Funicle weak, fully hidden by trigonal umbilical callus, fused with anterior lobe. Basal fasciole rounded with prominent growth lines. Color pattern not preserved.

Discussion. Hörnes (1856) confused this species with Euspira helicina ( Brocchi, 1814) , from the Pliocene of Italy, which differs in its more globose outline, due to its lower spire, and in its wider anterior parietal lobe (see Pedriali & Robba 2009: pl. 1, figs 12–13). Euspira moravica nov. sp. has similar umbilical features but differs in its lower spire and low spire whorls. Euspira sirenkoi Pedriali, Sosso & Dell’Angelo, 2019 , from the Badenian of the Ukraine, has a similarly high spire but less convex whorls and a less incised suture. Its parietal callus is longer and the umbilical callus shorter.

Paleoenvironment. At the locality Grund fossiliferous channel fills, which formed in middle to outer neritic environments bear allochthonous assemblages uniting coastal-mudflat faunas with inner neritic ones ( Zuschin et al. 2005; Roetzel 2009). The preservation suggests an origin from sandy, inner neritic environment.

Distribution in Central Paratethys. Badenian (Middle Miocene): North-Alpine-Carpathian Foreland Basin: Grund ( Austria) ( hoc opus).