Scissurella clathrata in the San Jorge Gulf (Argentina) and the identity of the enigmatic S. dalli Bartsch, 1903 (Gastropoda: Scissurellidae)

ZELAYA D. G. Y D. L. GEIGER

Zoosymposia

Magnolia Press

Lugar: Auckland; Año: 2008 p. 265 - 269

1178-9905

Scissurella dalli Bartsch, 1903, from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean was reported at least six times in the malacological literature. However, the species is thus far known only from the original description; it was never figured; and the type material is missing from the original repository, the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution. In the present study, we examine specimens of a scissurellid collected adjacent to the type locality of Scissurella dalli, and evaluate their identity. These specimens correspond to Scissurella clathrata Strebel, 1908. Even though this species shows some similarity with the original description of Scissurella dalli, the vague description by Bartsch lacking details and even containing contradictory indications, led us to the conclusion that they are not conspecific. Thus, Scissurella clathrata is reported for the first time at the type locality of S. dalli, and the latter remains as a nomen dubium.