D. P. ClLIA 
Novapex 13(1): 33-36, 10 mars 2012 
A new Javan species of Agaronia Gray, 1839 
(Neogastropoda, Olividae) 
David P. CILIA 
29, Triq il-Palazz 1-Ahmar, Santa Vénéra SVR1454, Malta 
dpcilia@gmail.com. 
KEYWORDS. Olividae, Indian Océan, Java, Indonesia, Agaronia johnabbasi sp. nov. 
ABSTRACT. A new species of olivid neogastropod from West Java, Agaronia johnabbasi sp. 
nov., is described according to conchological characters. It is distinguished from congeners by 
means of its distinctive morphology and colouration. 
INTRODUCTION 
The highly evolved gastropods in the family Olividae 
are found circumglobally in predominantly tropical or 
subtropical waters. Ail inhabit soft substrates 
including sand and silt, though the depths at which 
different species may be found vary from the littoral to 
the sublittoral. The genus Agaronia Gray, 1839 is 
sometimes regarded as forming part of the subfamily 
Agaroniinae Olsson, 1956 (Olsson, 1956; Ponder & 
Warén, 1988; Vaught, 1989; Sterba, 2004); though in 
Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), this taxon is synonymized 
with Olivinae Latreille, 1825. The majority of species 
are concentrated along the west African and east 
American coasti ines, with some Indian Océan 
représentatives that include the species described 
herein (see Table 1 for a complété list of recent 
species). 
Abbreviations 
Descriptive: D - diameter; H - height. 
Repositories: DC: collection of author, Santa Vénéra, 
Malta; GP: collection of Guido T. Poppe, Cebu, 
Philippines; JA: collection of John Abbas, Jakarta, 
Indonesia; MNHN: Muséum national d’Histoire 
naturelle, Paris, France; NMNH: National Muséum of 
Natural History, Mdina, Malta. 
MATERIALS & METHODS 
Seven shells were collected by fishermen with bottom 
trawling nets from the eastem bay in Pangandaran, 
West Java, in late 2009, at a depth of about 60m. Their 
shell morphology was compared and contrasted with 
that of the five known sympatric congeners. 
Maximum diameter and height of the shells, the 
former incorporating the lip, were measured twice 
using a dial caliper with a resolution of 50pm, the 
average of the two measurements was then calculated 
and noted. 
SYSTEMATICS 
Family OLIVIDAE Latreille, 1825 
Subfamily OLIVINAE Latreille, 1825 
Genus Agaronia Gray, 1839 
Type species by monotypy Voluta hiatula Gmelin, 
1791, West Africa 
Agaronia johnabbasi sp. nov. 
Figs.1-6 
Type material. Collected by fishermen, c. -60m on 
silty substrate, east Pangandaran Bay, Java, Indonesia, 
October 2009. Holotype MNHN 23267; paratypes: 
DC R.GA 1000-1; GP unreg.; JA unreg.; NMNH 
unreg. 
Type locality. East Pangandaran Bay, Java, Indonesia. 
Description. Dextral solid shell, of maximum height 
of about 40mm and a height/diameter ratio of about 
2.8. Spire tall and conical, with a slightly concave 
profile and featuring a spiral callus occupying about 
half the height of each whorl. Widest band of the body 
whorl a uniform dark-orange brown, sometimes with a 
purplish tinge intensifying towards the suture. This 
colouration is continuons along the spire, contrasting 
with the orange-brown spiral callus. Thin wash of 
white callus présent on the columellar side of the 
aperture close to the filament channel. Just above the 
postfasciole, a thin pale band is discemible. The 
postfasciole and the fasciole are of the same colour 
and are considerably paler than the main part of the 
body whorl, with the former featuring a few very fine 
spiral threads and numerous darker growth striae 
which do not extend upon the fasciole. The belt and 
the base of the columellar callosity are beige. Outer lip 
thin, with its outline recurved, and, at the proximity of 
the siphonal canal, almost parallel with the columellar 
side of the aperture. 
Dimensions. See Table 2 for details. 
Remarks. In colouration, the new species is 
remarkable in its distinct lack of pattern (except for 
the growth lines typical of ail Agaronia) and, 
unusually for the genus, the colouration of the 
postfasciole and fasciole, which are lighter in colour 
than the main part of the body whorl. The type locality 
of the new species, Pangandaran Bay yields examples 
33 
