R. Houart & J. Colomb 
Novapex 13(2): 75-78, 10 juin 2012 
Description of a new species of Siratus (Gastropoda: Muricidae) 
from Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles 
Roland HOUART 
Research Associate 
Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique 
Rue Vautier, 29, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium 
roland.houart@skynet.be 
Jacques COLOMB 
82, rue A. Daudet 
F- 13013 Marseille, France 
j acquescolomb@wanadoo. fr 
KEYWORDS. Gastropoda, Muricidae, Lesser Antilles, Martinique, Siratus , new species. 
ABSTRACT. Siratus michelae is described from six specimens dredged in about 70 m depth off 
Martinique, French Antilles. It is compared with S. cailleti (Petit, 1856) and S. kugleri (Clench & 
Pérez Farfante, 1945), both also occurring in the same area, but at greater depth. 
INTRODUCTION 
There are currently 27 Recent species of Siratus of 
which 24 live throughout the Western Atlantic and 
three in the Indo-West Pacific (Houart, 2012). 
Ail the species are listed by Houart (2010) and most 
of them are illustrated by Merle, Garrigues & Pointier 
(2011). The Western Atlantic species were also 
commented and illustrated by Vokes (1965 and 1990a), 
while nine species from the Western Atlantic were 
named since 1990 by Vokes (1990b), Houart (1999 
and 2000), Merle, Garrigues & Pointier (2001) and 
Merle & Garrigues (2008 and 2011). The most recent 
species was described from the Dominican Republic 
and Martinique. 
Abbreviations 
Repository 
MNHN: Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, 
France. 
RH coll. : Collection of Roland Houart. 
JC coll.: Collection of Jacques Colomb. 
Terminology used to describe the spiral cords and 
apertural denticles morphology (after Merle, 1999 
and 2001) (Figs 1-2). 
P: primary cord; s: secondary cord; t: tertiary cord; 
ad: adapical (or adapertural); ab: abapical (or 
abapertural); IP: infrasutural primary cord (primary 
cord on subsutural ramp); adis: adapical infrasutural 
secondary cord (on subsutural ramp); abis: abapical 
infrasutural secondary cord (on subsutural ramp); PI: 
shoulder cord; P2-P6: primary cords of the convex 
part of the teleoconch whorl; sl-s6: secondary cords 
of the convex part of the teleoconch whorl (example: 
si = secondary cord between PI and P2; s2 = 
secondary cord between P2 and P3, etc.); ADP: 
adapertural primary cord on the siphonal canal; MP: 
médian primary cord on the siphonal canal. 
Aperture: ID: Infrasutural denticle ; DI to D6: 
Abapical denticles 
SYSTEMATICS 
Family MURICIDAE Rafinesque, 1815 
Subfamily MURICINAE Rafinesque, 1815 
Genus Siratus Jousseaume, 1880 
Type species, by original désignation: Purpura Sirat 
"Adanson" Jousseaume, 1880 (= Murex senegalensis 
Gmelin, 1791), Recent, Brazil. 
Siratus michelae n. sp. 
Figs 1-2, 3-4, 7-12 
Type material. Holotype MNHN 25131 
Paratypes: 4 JC coll., 1 RH coll. 
Type locality. Martinique, Atlantic coast, 70 m. 
Distribution. Currently only known from the type 
material: Martinique, Atlantic coast, alive at 70 m. 
Description. Shell small for the genus, up to 41.4 mm 
in height at maturity. Height/width ratio 2.1-2.2. 
Broadly ovate, nodose, lightly built. Subsutural ramp 
broad, strongly sloping, weakly concave. 
Light brown or greyish-brown with lighter coloured or 
creamy white axial nodes. Spiral cords usually topped 
with fine dark brown lines. P3 and P5 almost entirely 
white, more obvious on axial nodes. Area between P3 
and P5 lighter coloured. MP spine creamy white. 
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