Cepola lombartei, Schwarzhans, 2023

Cepola lombartei n. sp.

Figure 24i–n View Fig

1989 Cepola rubescens Linnaeus, 1766 —Nolf & Cappetta: pl. 16, Fig. 4 View Fig .

?2000 Cepola rubescens Linnaeus, 1766 —Nolf & Girone: pl. 4, Fig. 22 View Fig .

Holotype SMF PO 101.245 ( Fig. 24i View Fig ), Dar bel Hamri, coquina at river level of Oued Beth, Zanclean.

Paratype 5 specimens SMF PO 101.246 , same data as holotype .

Further material 16 specimens, Zanclean , 5 specimens same data as holotype , 2 specimens Sidi Mohamed ech Chleuh , 1 specimen Asilah .

Etymology Named in honor of Antoni Lombarte (Barcelona) in recognition of his contribution to the knowledge of extant otoliths.

Diagnosis OL:OH = 2.03–2.1. Dorsal and ventral rims shallow. Cauda very narrow. Ostial colliculum terminating at some distance from anterior opening. Collum narrow.

Description Slender, thin otoliths up to 4.2 mm in length (holotype). OH:OT = 2.8–3.0. Dorsal and ventral rims shallow. Dorsal rim nearly straight in central section, with weak or indiscernible postdorsal angle and broadly rounded predorsal angle. Ventral rim regularly curved, sometimes flattened at its center. Anterior tip pointed in large specimens, less in smaller ones; posterior tip rounded in small specimens, becoming more pointed in large ones but less pointed than anterior tip. All rims smooth or slightly undulating.

Inner face distinctly convex, with slightly supramedian positioned narrow sulcus. OL:SuL = 1.4–1.5. Sulcus anteriorly open, but ostial colliculum not reaching anterior rim of otolith but terminating at some distance from it. Cauda very small and narrow, slightly shifted upwards. OsL:CaL = 2.1–2.5; OsH:CaH = 1.6–2.0. Cauda somewhat deepened with caudal colliculum less well defined than ostial colliculum. Dorsal depression indistinct; ventral furrow moderately developed, distant from ventral rim of otolith, anteriorly departing from ventral rim and leading to anterior tip of ostial colliculum. Outer face flat to slightly concave, smooth.

Discussion Te genus Cepola currently contains five recognized valid recent species. Otoliths are known from four of those (except C. australis Ogilby, 1899 ) and are figured here for comparison: Cepola macrophthalma (Linnaeus, 1758) , known from the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean ( Fig. 24a View Fig ); C. pauciradiata Cadenat, 1950 , known from West Africa from Mauritania to Angola ( Fig. 24e–f View Fig ); C. schlegelii Bleeker, 1854 , known from Indonesia and the West Pacific ( Fig. 24g View Fig ); and C. haastii (Hector, 1881) from New Zealand ( Fig. 24h View Fig ). Te differences between the otoliths of these species are subtle and concern otolith proportions, course of the dorsal rim, and details of the sulcus. One important characteristic is the position of the ostial colliculum, which usually terminates at some distance from the anterior rim of the otolith in all species except C. macrophthalma , where it reaches the anterior rim of the otolith or approaches very closely.

Cepola lombartei resembles the extant West African C. pauciradiata in otolith shape, but is more slender (OL:OH = 2.03–2.1 vs. 1.85–1.9) and has a narrower cauda. It also lacks the well-developed postdorsal angle of C. pauciradiata . Te Indo-West Pacific species ( C. schlegelii and C. haastii ) show a distinctly shorter ostial colliculum. It appears that C. lombartei has also been found in the Pliocene and possibly Pleistocene of the Mediterranean. Tese interpretations are based on published drawings (see synonymy listing) showing likewise slender otoliths with the ostial colliculum detached from the anterior rim of the otolith and are to be regarded tentative at present until revision.