Lophiotoma, CASEY, 1904

GENUS LOPHIOTOMA CASEY, 1904 View in CoL

Type species: Pleurotoma acuta Perry, 1811 , OD.

Diagnosis: Shell medium-sized to large, narrow to broad fusiform, with attenuated, usually long and nearly straight canal. Protoconch multispiral or paucispiral. Teleoconch whorls usually angulated at shoulder. Sculpture of sharp pronounced cords, including sinus area. Anal sinus deep, with nearly parallel sides. Operculum with apical nucleus.

Marginal radular teeth duplex. Anterior (inner) half solid, narrowly lanceolate, dorso-ventrally compressed with sharp lateral cutting edges. In posterior half major and accessory limbs bifurcate at about 45° angle, rather thin. Central formation [sensu Kantor (2006)] either absent or very weak, represented by central tooth in shape of flat poorly developed cusp.

Included species: Lophiotoma abbreviata ( Reeve, 1843) ; L. acuta ( Perry, 1811) ; L. bratasusa sp. nov.; L. brevicaudata ( Reeve, 1843) ; L. jickelii ( Weinkauff, 1875) ; L. kina sp. nov.; L. picturata (Weinkauff, 1876) ; L. polytropa ( Helbling, 1779) ; L. ruthveniana (Melvill, 1923) ; L. semfala sp. nov.; L. vezzaroi Cossignani, 2015 .

Remarks: The genus was revised by Powell (1964) who recognized two subgenera (nominative one and Lophioturris Powell, 1964 ) differing on the basis of the protoconch – multispiral in the former and blunt paucispiral in the latter. Powell attributed five Recent species to Lophiotoma s.s. As specified in the Introduction section, previous analyses revealed that among those included species Lophiotoma albina should be excluded as it is more closely related to Gemmula -like species, while on the contrary L. polytropa attributed by Powell to Lophioturris is confidently included in Lophiotoma on the basis of an earlier phylogenetic analysis ( Puillandre et al., 2012b). The protoconch of L. polytropa is unknown so far. Lophioturris , with the type species Turris indica (Röding, 1798) , clusters in one clade with Unedogemmula MacNeil, 1960 (type species Pleurotoma unedo Kiener, 1839 ), not related to Lophiotoma as defined here, and thus becomes junior subjective synonym of the latter.Among species treated as Lophiotoma by Powell (1964), only one species, L. ruthveniana (Melvill, 1923) , is absent from our material and its position remains unconfirmed. The recently described Lophiotoma vezzaroi Cossignani, 2015 was sequenced and falls within the Lophiotoma

The positions refer to the alignments provided in Appendices 1 and 2.

clade as defined here. This species was described from the Philippines and found by us in Vanuatu; conchologically it is rather similar to L. ruthveniana .