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| Fig. 3. Conus hughmorrisoni sp. nov. A–B. Paratype 2, 12.55 mm. C. Operculum of paratype 5. E–F. Radula of paratype 3.
DOI: 10.5852/EJT.2015.129
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Abstract
Based on newly collected material from the Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey, we
describe a new species of cone snail, Conus hughmorrisoni sp. nov., from the vicinity of Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. It closely resembles the New Caledonian C. exiguus and the Philippine C. hanshassi, but differs from these species by having more numerous shoulder tubercles, by the shell’s sculpturing and details of the color pattern. We also sequenced a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene of five specimens collected alive. All possessed very similar sequences (genetic distances < 0.3%), different from all the COI sequences of cone snails available in GenBank (genetic distances > 10%).
Keywords. COI mitochondrial gene, Conidae, Conus hughmorrisoni sp. nov., new species, New Ireland.
Class Gastropoda Cuvier, 1795
Subclass Caenogastropoda Cox, 1960
Order Neogastropoda Wenz, 1938
Superfamily Conoidea Fleming, 1822
Family Conidae Fleming, 1822
Genus Conus Linnaeus, 1758
Conus (Splinoconus) hughmorrisoni sp. nov.
Type locality: Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Kavieng Lagoon, E side of Wadei Island, 02°40.3’S, 150°39.1’E, 9–11 m deep (station KR70).
Etymology: This new species is named in honour of Hugh Morrison from Perth, Western Australia. He is a well known malacologist, shell dealer and pioneer scuba diver. He led the team of divers on board the MV PNG Explorer during the Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey. He is among the leading experts in Australian shells, and a dear friend of the first author
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| Fig. 6. A. Conus exiguus var. optimus Sowerby, 1913, 35.3 mm. Point Parme, New Caledonia. FL. B. Conus exiguus var. bougei Sowerby, 1907, 20.3 mm. Poum, N. New Caledonia. FL. C. Conus exiguus var. cabritii Bernardi, 1858, 22.0 mm. Northern New Caledonia. FL. D. Conus sp. cf. exiguus, 18.0 mm. Apia, Western Samoa. From Röckel et al. (1995), pl. 72, figs 14–15. E–F. Conus hanshassi (Lorenz & Barbier, 2012). E. 23.4 mm. Siargao Is., Philippines. Holotype, MNHN-IM-2000-24814. F. 22.9 mm. Siargao Is., Philippines. Paratype 1, FL.
DOI: 10.5852/EJT.2015.129
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Felix Lorenz and Nicolas Puillandre. 2015. Conus hughmorrisoni, A New Species of Cone Snail from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Gastropoda: Conidae).
European Journal of Taxonomy. 129: 1–15. DOI: 10.5852/EJT.2015.129