Lepidochitona caprearum ( Scacchi, 1836 )

Lepidochitona caprearum ( Scacchi, 1836) View in CoL

Fig. 100 View FIGURE 100

Chiton caprearum Scacchi, 1836, p. 9 ; B.D.D. 1882, p. 495.

Chiton corrugatus Reeve, 1848 , pl. 28, sp. & fig. 185.

Lepidochitona corrugata View in CoL ; Kaas & Van Belle 1985b, p. 86, fig. 40, map 19.

non Lepidochitona corrugata View in CoL ; Macioszczyk 1988, p. 52, pl. 2, figs 1–3 [valves poorly preserved, it is not possible to reach a specific attribution, see below (under Lepidochitona View in CoL from Paratethys)].

Chiton polii Philippi, 1836, p. 106 View in CoL [non Chiton polii Deshayes, 1833 View in CoL = Rhyssoplax olivacea ( Spengler, 1797) View in CoL ]; Seguenza 1862b, p. 30; Seguenza 1874, p. 12; Tiberi 1877, p. 140, 146; Monterosato 1879, p. 21; Seguenza 1879, p. 357; Scalia 1900, p. 16; Scalia 1907, p. 29.

? Chiton polii Var. Seguenza 1876, p. 264 View in CoL .

Middendorfia (sic) caprearum ; Francaviglia 1960, p. 637.

Middendorffia caprearum View in CoL ; Malatesta 1962, p. 157, figs 13–14; Sabelli & Taviani 1971a, p. 6; Laghi 1977, p. 108; Sabelli & Taviani 1979, p. 161, pl. 1, figs 8–9; Sabelli & Taviani 1984, p. 269; Bellomo & Sabelli 1995, p. 201.

Lepidochitona caprearum View in CoL ; Piani 1983, p. 91; Dell’Angelo & Forli 1995a, p. 228, fig. 12; Dell’Angelo & Forli 1995b, p. 78; Giani 1998, p. 115; Dell’Angelo & Smriglio 1999, p. 143, pls 46–48, figs 73–76; Dell’Angelo et al. 2001a, p. 147, fig. 11; Forli et al. 2003, p. 152; Chirli 2004, p. 9, pl. 3, figs 5–6; Dell’Angelo et al. 2004, p. 39; Cretella et al. 2005, p. 116, fig. 1a; Puchalski et al. 2008 (database: chiton fossil records); Koskeridou et al. 2009, p. 318, figs 9.8–9.9, 10.1–10.2; Dell’Angelo et al. 2012, p. 61, figs 5L–N; Dell’Angelo et al. 2013, p. 90, pl. 8, figs F–K; Dell’Angelo et al. 2016, p. 83, pl. 3, figs 19–21, pl. 4, figs 1–3; Dell’Angelo et al. 2020b, p. 53, tab 9; Dell’Angelo et al. 2021b, p. 424, figs 134–141.

Type material. Lectotype MCZR E20/12698 (Monterosato coll.), designated by Gaglini (1985), figured by Gaglini (1985: pl. 1, figs 1–2) and Cretella et al. (2005: fig. 1a).

Type locality. Capri Island ( Campania, Italy) .

Material examined. Upper Miocene (Tortonian): Italy: Piedmont: Borelli: 2 valves ( BD 837, MZB 32092, Fig. 100D View FIGURE 100 ), Rio di Bocca d’Asino: 13 valves ( BD 838, MZB 32090-32091, PG, Figs 100E–F View FIGURE 100 ); Emilia-Romagna: Montegibbio: 2 valves ( BD 839, LB). Lower Piocene: Italy: Liguria: Borzoli: 6 valves ( BD 840, MZB 45755), Genova Sestri: 3 valves ( BD 841), Rio Sant’ Antonino: 48 valves ( BD 842, MP, MZB 45752–45754, Figs 100A–B, 100I View FIGURE 100 ), Zinola: 1 valve ( BD 843). Pliocene: Italy: Tuscany: Orciano Pisano: 1 valve ( BD 844), Poggio alla Fame: 5 valves ( BD 845, Fig. 100C View FIGURE 100 ), Serre di Rapolano: 11 valves ( BD 846); Sicily: Altavilla: 2 valves ( AG, AR), Trappeto: 1 valve ( BD 847). Pleistocene: Italy: Tuscany: Riparbella: 15 valves ( BD 848); Emilia-Romagna: Torrente Guerro: 1 valve ( BD 849), Torrente Stirone: 8 valves ( BD 850); Puglia: Gallipoli: 20 valves ( BD 851); Calabria: Archi S. Francesco: 2 valves ( BD 852, Figs 100J–L View FIGURE 100 ), Le Castella: 3 valves ( BD 853), Musalà: 1 valve ( BD 854), Pecoraro: 3 valves ( BD 855), Pezzo: 14 valves ( BD 856); Sicily: Capo Milazzo: 1 valve ( BD 857). Recent: Cyprus: Limassol: valves ( BD 858, Figs 100G–H View FIGURE 100 ). Maximum width of the valves: 2.2 / 3.4 / 1.7 mm.

Description. Head valve a little less than semicircular, with 8–10 radial depressions crossing its surface, front slope straight. Intermediate valves broadly rectangular (W/L = 2.57–2.90), moderately elevated (H/W = 0.35– 0.48), rounded to semicarinate in anterior profile, anterior margin almost straight to slightly concave, side margins rounded, posterior margin almost straight, with a small apex in juvenile specimens, tending to disappear in adults, lateral areas hardly raised, though indicated by a rounded diagonal rib, another subsolete rib along the posterior margin. Tail valve triangular, W/L = 2.21, anterior margin almost straight to slightly sinuose, mucro subcentral, elevated, antemucronal slope almost straight, postmucronal slope almost straight to slightly concave.

Tegmentum uniformly covered with rather coarse rounded and elevated granules (diameter ca 100 µm) arranged in irregular quincunxes. Each granule with one central megalaesthete surrounded by 15–20 micraesthetes.

Articulamentum with apophyses wide, triangular in intermediate valves, rectangular in tail valve, teeth thickened at edges, those of tail valve very short, rugose, somewhat directed forward, slit formula 8–10 / 1 / 10–12, slits short, inequidistant, slit rays clearly visible, eaves coarsely spongy.

Remarks. The fossil record of Lepidochitona caprearum ( Scacchi, 1836) is known from the upper Miocene of N. Italy, the Pliocene of Italy and Greece and the Pleistocene of Italy. This species is rather rare as a fossil, and has a long and rather complex nomenclatural history, summarized by Dell’Angelo & Smriglio (1999).

Comparisons. Lepidochitona caprearum is close to L. canariensis ( Thiele, 1909) , for the differences see under this species (below).

Distribution. Upper Miocene: Proto-Mediterranean Sea (Tortonian): Po Basin, N Italy: Borelli, Montegibbio, Rio di Bocca d’Asino ( Laghi 1977; Dell’Angelo et al. 1999, 2016). Lower Pliocene: central Mediterranean, Italy: Liguria: Borzoli. Genova Sestri, Rio S. Antonino, Zinola ( Dell’Angelo et al. 2013; Dell’Angelo et al. 2021b). Pliocene: central Mediterranean, Italy: Altavilla, Orciano Pisano, Poggio alla Fame, Serre di Rapolano, Trappeto ( Laghi 1977; Dell’Angelo et al. 2001a, 2012; Chirli 2004; this study). Upper Pliocene to upper Pleistocene: central Mediterranean, Greece ( Koskeridou et al. 2009). Pleistocene: central Mediterranean, Italy: many localities ( Dell’Angelo et al. 2001a, 2007b; this study). Recent: Atlantic Ocean: along the coasts of France ( Lacourt 1977), Spain and Portugal and in the Selvagens Arch. ( Kaas 1991; Consolado Macedo et al. 1999; Carmona Zalvide et al. 2000); Mediterranean Sea: Alboran isl. ( Salas & Luque 1986), France (B.D.D. 1882), Italy (Tiberi 1877; Dell’Angelo & Smriglio 1999; Trono 2006), Croatia ( Dell’Angelo & Zavodnik 2004), Aegean Sea ( Strack 1990; Koukouras & Karachle 2005), Tunisia ( Kaas 1989; Cecalupo et al. 2008), Lebanon ( Crocetta et al. 2014), Turkey ( Ozturk et al. 2014).