dcsimg
Image of Falsilunatia patagonica (Philippi 1845)
Creatures » » Animal » » Molluscs » Snails » » Moon Snails »

Falsilunatia patagonica (Philippi 1845)

Description

provided by NMNH Antarctic Invertebrates

Falsilunatia patagonica (Philippi, 1845) (Fig. 248)

Natica patagonica Philippi, 1845: 65; Hupe, 1854: 221; Tryon, 1886: 37, pl. 14, fig. 24; Rochebrune and Mabille, 1889: H35; Strebel, 1906: 137, pl. 11, fig. 63; Strebel, 1908: 61.

Polynices patagonica : Carcelles and Williamson, 1951: 281; Carcelles, 1953: 185.

Polinices patagonicus : Powell, 1951: 118; Powell, 1960: 145.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: Eltanin Stn 966.

DISTRIBUTION: Poorly known, but recorded from Magellan Strait, off Tierra del Fuego, on the Patagonian Shelf and off the Falklands (40-172 m). Powell (1951) also recorded it from off South Georgia (401-411 m).

REMARKS: One specimen from Eltanin Stn 966 (height 28.6 mm, diameter 25.4 mm) matches Strebel's figure (1906, pl. 11, fig. 63), which was based upon a specimen measuring 24.4 x 19.2 mm. It is tentatively identified as patagonica and because of its shell characters and its general appearance of an enormous specimen of soluta it is placed in Falsilunatia. There are no real characters by which it can be distinguished from soluta except size. The species has only rarely been reported and may be based on an occasional giant specimen of soluta.”

(Dell, 1990: 148)