[Mollusca • 2017] Not All Spotted Cats are Leopards: Evidence for A Hemilienardia ocellata species complex (Gastropoda: Conoidea: Raphitomidae)

Fig. 2. Species of the Hemilienardia ocellata complex. The SEM image with no letter denoted shows standard measurements.
 A–D. Hemilienardia ocellata (Jousseaume, 1884). A–B. Syntype, MNHN IM-2000-3128, Mauritius, 4.0 mm. C. Loyalty Islands, Lifou, Baie du Santal, Atelier Lifou 2000, stn 1429, 20°47.5' S, 167°07.1' E, 8–18 m, 4.4 mm. D. New Caledonia, Secteur de Koumac, Expedition Montrouzier, stn 1319, 20°44.7' S, 164°15.5' E, 15–20 m, 3.6 mm.
E–F. Hemilienardia acinonyx sp. nov. E. Holotype, MNHN IM-2013-33593, Philippines, 8.1 mm. F. Loyalty Islands, Lifou, Baie du Santal, Atelier Lifou 2000, stn 1441, 20°46.4' S, 167°02.0' E, 20 m, 5.4 mm.
G–H. Hemilienardia lynx sp. nov., holotype, MNHN IM-2013-5489, Papua New Guinea, 2.75 mm.
I–M. Hemilienardia pardus sp. nov. I. BMOO 17147, Society Islands, Moorea. K. Holotype, MNHN IM-2000-31661, 5.8 mm. L–M. Loyalty Islands, Lifou, Baie du Santal, Atelier Lifou 2000, stn 1454, 20°56.65' S, 167°02.0' E, 15–18 m, 5.2 mm.

Abstract

The small conoidean Hemilienardia ocellata is one of the easily recognizable Indo-Pacific “turrids”, primarily because of its remarkable eyespot colour pattern. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed four species that share this “characteristic” colour pattern but demonstrate consistent differences in size and shell proportions. Three new species – Hemilienardia acinonyx sp. nov. from the Philippines, H. lynx sp. nov. from Papua New Guinea and H. pardus sp. nov. from the Society and Loyalty Islands – are described based on the results of phylogenetic analyses. Although the H. ocellata species complex clade falls in a monophyletic Hemilienardia, H. ocellata and H. acinonyx sp. nov. possess a radula with semi-enrolled or notably flattened triangular marginal teeth, a condition that diverges substantially from the standard radular morphology of Hemilienardia and other raphitomids.

Keywords: integrative taxonomy; species delimitation; Indo-Pacific; COI; 16S

Alexander E. Fedosov, Peter Stahlschmidt, Nicolas Puillandre, Laetitia Aznar-Cormano and Philippe Bouchet. 2017. Not All Spotted Cats are Leopards: Evidence for A Hemilienardia ocellata species complex (Gastropoda: Conoidea: Raphitomidae).  European Journal of Taxonomy. 268(2017); 1-20. DOI:  10.5852/ejt.2017.268