Fustiaria electra, Scarabino & Scarabino, 2010

Fustiaria electra View in CoL n. sp.

( Fig. 1 H-K)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Fiji. BORDAU 1, stn DW 1469, Lau Ridge (Vatoa), 19°40’S, 178°10’W, 314-377 m, 1 lv holo-

type ( MNHN 22775 About MNHN ) ; 1 lv paratype ( MNHN 22776 About MNHN ). — Stn DW 1472, Lau Ridge (Vatoa), 19°40’S, 178°10’W, 262-266 m, 2 dd paratypes ( MNHN 22777 About MNHN ) GoogleMaps .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Fiji, Lau Rigde (Vatoa), 19°40’S, 178°10’W, 314-377 m ( BORDAU 1, stn DW 1469).

ETYMOLOGY. — From the Latin electrum meaning “amber”, highlighting the colour of the shell.

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fiji. BORDAU 1, stn DW 1469, Lau Ridge (Vatoa), 19°40’S, 178°10’W, 314-377 m, 3 dd. — Stn DW 1471, Lau Ridge (Vatoa), 19°40’S, 178°10’W, 280-296 m, 2 dd.

Tonga. BORDAU 2, stn DW 1532, seamount, 21°44’S, 175°20’W, 322- 322 m, 1 dd. — Stn DW 1535, seamount, 21°43’S, 175°18’W, 268 m, 1 lv, 4 dd. — Stn DW 1587, Vava‘u group, 18°37’S, 173°54’W, 309-400 m, 4 dd. — Stn DW 1634, seamount, 21°45’S, 175°20’W, 321-322 m, 1 dd.

Wallis Island. MUSORSTOM 7, stn DW 601, 13°19’S, 176°17’W, 350 m, 1 dd. — Stn DW 610, 13°21’S, 176°09’W, 286 m, 1 dd.

DISTRIBUTION. — Fiji, Wallis Island and Tonga. Live at 268 m, shells to 350 m.

DESCRIPTION

Shell 28.6 mm long, solid, polished, slowly tapering and gently curved. Entirely coloured dark-yellow to orange. Apex with short projection of internal wall, oblique on dorsal side, a notch on dorsal side and a long regular slit in the ventral side. Shell section circular.

Measurements of holotype:L 28.6, W2.8, w 1.05, arc 2 at 11 from the apex

REMARKS

Fustiaria electra n. sp. most closely resembles F.caesura (Colman, 1958) ( holotype AMS C62230, examined) from eastern Australia, the other completely coloured Fustiaria species described from the area, which is clearly more tapering than F. electra n. sp. (see Scarabino 1995: fig. 88g; Lamprell & Healy 1998). Also more tapering are the other three Fustiaria species that exhibit a long ventral slit in the tropical Pacific: F. nipponica (Yokoyama, 1922) , the commonest species, which is translucent white and prefers shallow water; F. mariae Scarabino, 2008 , which is coloured only on the apical sector; and F. steineri Scarabino, 2008 , which is white and polished, characterized by the different wall thickness of the dorsal and ventral sides, and which tapers clearly more rapidly than the other species (see Scarabino 1995: fig. 88e; 2008).