Cranopsis watsoni ( Dall, 1889 )

Cranopsis watsoni ( Dall, 1889) View in CoL revalidated, new combination ( Fig. 4 View Figure4 H-K)

Puncturella (Cranopsis) granulata View in CoL : Watson, 1883: 31 Dautzenberg & Fischer, 1896: 491, 1897: 180; Farfante, 1947: 124-126 (pl. 54, figs. 4-7); Rios, 1975: 14 (pl. 2, fig. 14), 1985: 12-13 (pl. 6, fig. 43), 1994: 24 (pl. 6, fig. 47), 2009: 29 (fig. 55) (non Seguenza, 1863).

Puncturella (Cranopsis) tuberculata Watson, 1883: 31 View in CoL (invalid, see below).

Puncturella watsoni Dall, 1889: 403-404 View in CoL .

Puncturella granulata View in CoL : Poirier, 1954: 14; Abbott, 1974: 23 (sp. 79); Molluscabase, 2024 (non Seguenza, 1863).

Cranopsis granulata View in CoL : Simone & Cunha, 2014: 452-453 (non Seguenza, 1863).

Type localities: Near Barbados,100 fms. Sta. 20,220 fms .; off Bahia Honda , Cuba ; Off Yucatan , 200 fms. Focused to off Barbados, 100 fms by Farfante (1947) by lectotype designation. Puncturella tuberculata : Challenger sta. 24, north of Culebra Island ; 18°38′30″N 65°5′30″W, 390 fms, off St. Thomas , N of Culebra Island, Danish W. Indies, 390 fms GoogleMaps .

Remarks: The Atlantic Cranopsis watsoni has been considered synonymous with C. granulata . However, C. granulata was described by Seguenza (1863: 88) as a Miocene fossil from Messina, Italy. Despite age and geographic discrepancies, the Recent Atlantic specimens do not entirely match the original concept of the fossil C.granulata , particularly regarding the height of the shell, which was described as "poco elevata,″ or low. In contrast, existing species are notable for having a tall, elevated shell ( Fig. 4H, J View Figure4 ). Therefore, the most appropriate taxonomic procedure is to consider C. granulata solely as a Miocene fossil species from the Italian region, and the Recent Atlantic populations as a distinct taxonomic entity.

Puncturella (Cranopsis) tuberculata Watson, 1883 should be an older name, but it was simply introduced as a synonym of P. granulata and was never mentioned again (Watson, 1883; MolluscaBase, 2024), rendering it a nomen nudum status and an unavailable name. The only available name for the Atlantic Recent species is Puncturella watsoni Dall, 1889 , which fully meets the taxonomic requirements to be considered the valid name. It supersedes the previous concept known as C. granulata . Since P. tuberculata , despite being invalid, was clearly associated with Recent material, it is evidently a synonym of C. granulata .

The recent synonymy of the genus Cranopsis with Puncturella Lowe, 1827 ( Cunha et al., 2019; MolluscaBase, 2024) is not adopted here, as the differentiation between both genera is deemed consistent, as reported by Simone & Cunha (2014).