Pseudocyphoma intermedium (Sowerby I, 1828)

Pseudocyphoma intermedium (Sowerby I, 1828) View in CoL ( Fig. 12 View Figure 12 E-G)

Ovulum intermedium Sowerby I, 1828: 158 View in CoL .

Cyphoma macumba Petuch, 1979: 515-517 View in CoL (figs. 1C-D, 2B-C); new synonym.

Type locality: Not stated. Cyphoma macumba : Off Parcel das Paredes, Abrolhos Reef Complex, Bahia State, Brazil (17°47′S 39°1′W) 2 m.

Remarks: In the paper by Simone (2004), which anatomically reviewed Western Atlantic Cyphoma Röding, 1798 , a notable degree of shell variation was observed in C. intermedium . The anatomical features and its placement in the cladogram suggested a distinct genus – Pseudocyphoma – with C.intermedium as its type species. This particular species is easily identifiable by the relatively pointed ends of its shell, distinguishing it from others where the ends are more rounded.However,there are variants of P. intermedium with shells exhibiting rounded extremities, complicating the identification of Western Atlantic Cyphoma species based solely on the shell.

A more reliable method for identifying Western Atlantic Cyphoma species is through the examination of mantle lobes color patterns, as detected by Simone (2004).The mantle lobes of C. macumba , as illustrated by its describer ( Fig. 12G View Figure 12 ), exhibit a pattern similar to that of P. intermedium ( Fig. 12H View Figure 12 ). At the time of Simone′s (2004) study,it was not considered a synonym for P.intermedium due to the robustness of its shell, which resembled that of a C. gibbosum-C. signatum shell.

Despite Simone′s (2004) documentation of the high degree of variation in P. intermedium , as depicted in col- or – pl. 88 (2004: 14), specimens resembling the robust conformation of the C. macumba holotype ( Fig. 12 View Figure 12 E-F) had not been collected at that time. Presently, such robust conformations have been found in other specimens along the Brazilian coast, suggesting a gerontic stage and supporting the synonymy with P.intermedium .

However, upon consulting more recent literature, it has been established that C. macumba is now synonymized with C. gibbosum ( Linné, 1758) ( Reijnen & Meij, 2017; MolluscaBase, 2023). The color pattern on the mantle lobes of C. gibbosum differs significantly, characterized by orange bubbles on a white base ( Fig. 12I, J View Figure 12 ; Simone, 2004: fig. 311). In contrast, P. intermedium displays a distinct pattern featuring rectangular sets of dark transverse stripes ( Fig. 12G, H View Figure 12 ; Simone, 2004: fig. 323). This crucial distinction in mantle lobe color patterns leaves no doubt that C. macumba is indeed a synonym of P.intermedium .