Archiv für Molluskenkunde 149 (2) 147–150 Frankfurt am Main, 18 Dec.

2020

A new species of Gregorioiscala (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae)

from the Red Sea
Antonio Bonfitto
University of Bologna, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA), Via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy (antonio.
bonfitto@unibo.it).

Abstract. A new species of Gregorioiscala Cossman, 1912 (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) is described based
on shells collected in the bathyal zone of the central Red Sea, off Sudan. Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp. is
the first representative of this bathyal genus in the Red Sea. Type specimens of Scala sumatrensis Thiele,
1925, Scala punctata Thiele, 1925, and Scala costigera Thiele, 1925 are illustrated.
Keywords. Mollusca, Epitonioidea, type specimens, taxonomy, bathyal zone.
DOI. https://doi.org/10.1127/arch.moll/149/147-150

apparently bathymetrically distinct: members of the ge-

Introduction
While examining a collection of gastropods from the
bathyal zone of the central Red Sea, off Sudan, I detected
an unknown epitoniid, described here as a new species,
eschweizerbartxxx sng-
nus Opalia are restricted to the continental shelf while
all known members of Gregorioiscala and Punctiscala
are bathyal (Bouchet & Warén 1986, Weil et al. 1999,
Squires & Saul 2003, Garcia 2004, Lima & Christof-

belonging to the deep-water genus Gregorioiscala Coss- fersen 2014).

mannn, 1912.
The genus Gregorioiscala was originally erected by
Cossmann (1912) as a new name for Bria de Gregorio,
1890 (type species: Scalaria romettensis de Gregorio,
1890, Miocene of Ficarazzi, S Italy) and used by many
authors (Cossmann 1912, de Boury 1913, Bouchet &
Warén 1986, Weil et al. 1999, Garcia 2004, Lima &
Christoffersen 2014) to place some modern deep­water
epitoniids. This genus is characterized by a combina-
tion of thick pitted intritacalx, strong axial ribs, which
are aligned in rows from whorl to whorl, non-crenulated
suture, broad basal disc, and well-defined basal ridge
(Bouchet & Warén 1986, Weil et al. 1999). Grego-
rioiscala is similar to Punctiscala de Boury, 1890 and
Opalia H.A. Adams, 1853, with which it shares many
similarities, including a pitted intriticalx, axial sculp-
ture, and a basal disc (Bouchet & Warén 1986, Gar-
cia 2004). In Opalia, the axial ribs form crenulations at
the suture. In Punctiscala, the axial ribs are not aligned
from whorl to whorl, do not form varices, and do not
extend onto the basal disc (Bouchet & Warén 1986,
Weil et al. 1999). Although there are remarkable sim-
ilarities, recent workers treat them as separate genera
because they seem to represent species groups that are
Despite the relationships between Opalia, Puncti-
scala, and Gregorioiscala, the genera have not yet been
well defined, and future work may show that they could
represent only ecological variability among species
groups that might better be placed in a single, broader
genus (Bouchet & Warén 1986), I provisionally place
the new species in the genus Gregorioiscala.
Materials and Methods
Descriptions and measurements are made with the shell
oriented spire up and with the aperture facing the viewer.
All measurements were made using a Wild M5A stereo-
microscope. Photomicrographs were taken using a Jeol
JSM-5200 scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The following abbreviations are used: MZB = Museo
di Zoologia dell’Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy;
MNHN = Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris,
France; NHMUK = Natural History Museum, London,
United Kingdom; ZMB = Museum für Naturkunde Ber-
lin, Germany; W = shell width; L = shell length; W/L =
ratio of shell width to shell length.

© E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele u. Obermiller) and Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, 2020, ISSN 1869-0963
Archiv für Molluskenkunde  ·  149 (2) 2020
Systematics
Class Gastropoda Cuvier, 1795
Family Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)
Genus Gregorioiscala Cossmann, 1912
Gregorioiscala Cossmannn 1912: 80; new name for Bria de Gre-
gorio, 1890, non Bria Giebel, 1856 (Bouchet & Warén 1986).
Type species (by monotypy): Scalaria romettensis de Grego-
rio, 1890 (Miocene of S Italy).
Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp.
Figure 1A–H
Type locality. Red Sea, off Sudan, from 19° 43′ 17″ N,
037° 27′ 01″ E to 19° 43′ 16″ N, 037° 27′ 42″ E, 677–700 m
depth (Fig. 2)
Type material. Holotype (MZB 60282) and 3 paratypes
(1 MNHN (MNHN-IM-2012-25502); 1 NHMUK; 1 ZMB/
Moll 122840), from type locality; 2 paratypes, gold
coated (MZB 60283), from 19° 37′ 35″ N, 038° 33′ 04″ E
to 19° 37′ 03″ N, 038° 32′ 18″ E, 907–1014 m depth (Fig. 2).
Etymology. Named after my son, Federico.
Description. Shell small (L to 4.1 mm), slender-con-
ical (W/L 0.41–0.42), thick walled (Fig. 1A, B). Proto-
conch polygyrate, broadly conical, almost columnar,
eschweizerbartxxx sng-
of 4 slightly convex whorls (Fig. 1F, G), sculptured by
fine spiral rows of minute, crescent-shaped pits, obsolete
on nucleus (Fig. 1H); largest diameter 0.35 mm; whit-
ish with dark suture. Separation from teleoconch abrupt
(Fig. 1F, G). Teleoconch c. 4½–5 convex, regularly
enlarging whorls. Suture rather deep, very slightly undu-
lated by crests of axial ribs (Fig. 1A, B). Surface cov-
ered by intritacalx densely sculptured by microscopic
spiral rows of pits, c. 20 on penultimate whorl, not asso-
ciated with spiral striae (Fig. 1C–E). Axial sculpture of
strong, narrow, and relatively high ribs, rounded in cross
section, prosocline, evenly spaced, aligned from whorl
to whorl, angled in posterior third, gradually and con-
cavely sloping in subsutural region, not forming crenu-
lation at suture (Fig. 1A–D); first varicoid rib on fourth
whorl (Fig. 1A–C). Last whorl with about 12 or 13 axial
ribs extending on base. Body whorl almost bicarinate
and posteriorly angled; base of shell with prominent
basal ridge, nodose where meeting axial ribs. Basal disc
broad, concave, well defined by basal ridge and sculp-
tured by the termination of axial ribs, which reach the
narrow umbilicus. Aperture obliquely ovate. Peristome
thick (Fig. 1A, B). Shell white (Fig. 1A). Operculum and
soft parts unknown.
Dimensions (L × W). Holotype 3.48 × 1.44 mm; largest
paratype 4.05 × 1.68 mm.
Distribution. Bathyal zone of the central Red Sea (677–
1014 m depth) (Fig. 2).
148
Remarks. The genera Opalia and Gregorioiscala can be
differentiated from other epitoniid lineages by the shared
presence of pitted intritacalx, axial ribs, some of which
may form varices, a thickened outer lip, a basal disc with
more or less defined basal ridge, and a multispiral proto­
conch (Bouchet & Warén 1986, Weil et al. 1999). In
Opalia, axial ribs form crenulations at the suture, while
in Gregorioiscala, the suture is not crenulated. Although
the two genera are thought to be related the relationship
between the them is poorly resolved, mainly due the scar-
city of material, which is often represented only by empty
shells (Bouchet & Warén 1986, Garcia 2004). Opalia
and Gregorioiscala are represented by groups of species
that are bathymetrically distinct; Cossmann (1912), de
Boury (1913), Bouchet & Warén (1986), and Garcia
(2004) placed in Gregorioiscala modern, bathyal, Opalia-
like epitoniids with non-crenulated sutures. Until new
anatomical or molecular evidence is available to clar-
ify the taxonomy of Opalia and Gregorioiscala, the new
species is provisionally assigned to the genus Gregorio-
iscala on the basis of the conchological characters and
depth of origin. Gregorioiscala is recorded from the Red
Sea for the first time.
Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp. has a multispiral pro-
toconch, which suggests planktotrophic development.
The protoconch is composed of 1 embryonic and 2¾ lar-
val whorls. The embryonic shell shows no ornamentation
(Fig. 1F, G), while the larval whorls are characteristically
sculptured by fine spiral rows of minute, crescent-shaped
pits (Fig. 1F, G); there are about 11 rows of pits on the last
whorl. This ornamentation has apparently never been ob-
served before in the genus, although the protoconch mi-
crosculpture in Gregorioiscala is poorly documented
even by Garcia (2004) and Lima & Christoffersen
(2014), who include few or no SEM photomicrographs
of the protoconch. Gregorioiscala nierstraszi (Schep-
man, 1909), from New Caledonia, has a multispiral pro-
toconch of 3½ whorls, which is sculptured by punctate,
sinuous, axial scratches (Garcia 2004: fig. 19); G. xan-
thotaenia Garcia, 2004, from Fiji and Reunion Island,
has a multispiral, smooth protoconch (Garcia 2004: fig.
14); G. pimentai Lima & Christoffersen, 2014, from Bra-
zil, has a protoconch formed by only two whorls, which
are sculptured with microscopic pits (Lima & Christof­
fersen 2014: fig. 1C); G. barazeri Garcia, 2004 has a
smooth, globose, translucent protoconch of about 2
whorls (Garcia 2004: fig. 5); G. transkeiana (Kilburn,
1985), from South Africa, has a smooth, pauci­spiral pro-
toconch (Kilburn 1985: fig. 2). No further information
is available in the literature for the remaining 10 species
(WoRMS 2020), which have protoconchs described as
eroded, incomplete, or missing.
There are several species of Opalia with multispiral
protoconchs sculptured by spiral rows of minute pits (Kil-
burn 1985, Garcia 2004). I observed this feature in a re-
maining whorl of the protoconch of a specimen of Opalia
(Nodiscala) crassilabrum (G.B. Sowerby II, 1844), from
 Bonfitto · Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp.

the shallow water of the Red Sea (MZB60284) (Fig. 1L). the new species, although they are smaller, more acutely
In this species, the microscopic pits on the protoconch crescentic and slightly deeper (Fig. 1M).
are very similar to the minute crescent-shaped pits in Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp. is closely similar to

eschweizerbartxxx sng-

Figure 1. Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp. and similar species. A. Holotype of G. federicoi n. sp. (MZB60282), from Red Sea, off
Sudan, from 19° 43' 17" N, 037° 27' 01" E to 19° 43' 16" N, 037° 27' 42" E, 677–700 m depth. B–H. Paratype of G. federicoi n. sp.
(MZB60283), from Red Sea, off Sudan, from 19° 37' 35" N, 038° 33' 04" E to 19° 37' 03" N, 038° 32' 18" E, 907–1014 m depth:
(C) penultimate whorl; (D, E) microsculpture on teleoconch; (F, G) protoconch; (H) microsculpture on protoconch. I. Syntype
of Scala sumatrensis Thiele, 1925 (ZMB109.992), off Padang, Sumatra, (Indonesia). J. Holotype of Scala punctata Thiele, 1925
(ZMB109.284; degraded by Byne’s disease), from off Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, 00° 30.2' N, 097° 59.7' E, 132 m depth.
K. Holotype of Scala costigera Thiele, 1925 (ZMB109.292), from off Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, 06° 39.1' S, 039° 30.8' E, 400 m
depth. L, M. Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilabrum (G.B. Sowerby II, 1844) (MZB60284), from southern Red Sea, off Yemen, 76 m
depth: (M) detail of the microsculpture of the protoconch. I–K photographed by Christine Zorn.

149
Archiv für Molluskenkunde  ·  149 (2) 2020
36°E 40°E
28°N
EGYPT SAUDI ARABIA
24°N
RED SEA
Sampling sites
20°N
Port Sudan
SUDAN
16°N
ERITREA
12°N
0 500 km
32°E 36°E 40°E
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Figure 2. Sampling sites of Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp.
Square (type locality): dredging site from 19° 43' 17" N, 037°
27' 01" E to 19° 43' 16" N, 037° 27' 42" E, 677–700 m depth.
Circle: dredging site from 19° 37' 35" N, 038° 33' 04" E to 19°
37' 03" N, 038° 32' 18" E, 907–1014 m depth.
Opalia (Opalia) sumatrensis (Thiele, 1925) (Fig. 1I)
and Opalia (Opalia) punctata (Thiele, 1925) (Fig. 1J),
both from Padang, Sumatra, and Punctiscala costigera
(Thiele, 1925) (Fig. 1K), from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
(Thiele 1925). However, G. federicoi differs from these
species in many details. In comparison with O. suma-
trensis (Fig. 1I) the shell of the new species is broader,
less slender (W/L 0.41–42 vs 0.30), the aperture is wider,
and the shoulder angle is above the middle of the whorl
rather than median.
Compared to O. (O.) punctata (Fig. 1J), the shell of G.
federicoi n. sp. is larger (L 2.4 mm vs 3.48– 4.05 mm)
and wider in shape (W/L 0.31 vs 0.41–42). According to
Thiele’s description and original figure (Thiele 1925), O.
(O.) punctata could share with G. federicoi the micros-
culpture of the teleoconch surface, consisting of rows of
spiral pits. Unfortunately, Thiele’s species is known only
from the holotype, which has been degraded by Byne’s
disease (Fig. 1J). This prevents any further comparison.
The new species differs from P. costigera (Fig. 1K)
in its distinctly broader shell (W/L 0.41–42 vs 0.33–
0.38), which is sculptured by more axial ribs (12–13 vs
10 on penultimate whorl) and has a larger protoconch 4
150
44°E whorls vs 3½). Moreover, the holotype of P. costigera
shows much less obvious sculpture on the teleoconch
(Fig. 1K). Gregorioiscala federicoi n. sp. differs from G.
28°N
xanthotaenia Garcia, 2004 from Viti Levu, Fiji, in lack-
ing the characteristic spiral cords of the microsculpture
on the teleoconch.
24°N
Acknowledgements
I sincerely thank Christine Zorn (Museum für Natur-
kunde Berlin) for the photomicrographs of type speci-
mens of Scala punctata, S. sumatrensis, and S. costigera,
20°N and Bruno Sabelli (University of Bologna), Bret Raines
(Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County), and
Silvio Felipe Barbosa de Lima (Universidade Federal de
Campina Grande, Centro de Formação de Professores)
for constructive reviews of the manuscript. I am very
16°N
thankful to editor Katrin Schniebs and technical edi-
tor Robert Forsyth for their careful and critical appraisal
YEMEN
and editing of the manuscript. This work was supported
by the “Canziani Bequest” fund, University of Bologna
(grant number A.31.CANZELSEW), Bologna, Italy.
12°N
44°E References
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Manuscript submitted 5 March 2020
Revised manuscript accepted 20 May 2020