R. HOUART 
Novapex 13(1): 25-28, 10 mars 2012 
Description of a new species in the Siratus pliciferoides group 
(Gastropoda: Muricidae) from the Philippines 
Roland HOUART 
Research Associate 
Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique 
Rue Vautier, 29, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium 
roland.houart@skynet.be 
KEYWORDS. Philippines, Gastropoda, Muricidae, Siratus n. sp. 
ABSTRACT. A new species of Siratus is described from Balut Island, Philippines. It is compared 
with Siratus pliciferoides (Kuroda, 1942). The synonymy of Siratus pliciferoides is reviewed and 
commented. 
RESUME. Une nouvelle espèce de Siratus est décrite de l'île de Balut aux Philippines. Elle est 
comparée à Siratus pliciferoides (Kuroda, 1942). La synonymie de Siratus pliciferoides est passée 
en revue et commentée. 
INTRODUCTION 
The Siratus pliciferoides group contains four names 
usually considered to be monospecific: Chicoreus 
pliciferoides (Figs 4-7, 15) was described by Kuroda 
(1942: 81) as a substitute name for Murex pliciferus 
Sowerby, 1841 which was preceded by, and thus a 
homonym of, M. pliciferus Bivona-Bemardi, 1832. 
The species occurs widely in an area consisting of the 
Philippines, the China Seas, Taiwan and Southern 
Japan. 
Murex (Siratus) propinquus was described by Kuroda 
& Azuma in Azuma (1961: 300) for a quite similar 
shell from Japan but with a comparatively lower spire, 
a shorter siphonal canal and a broader last teleoconch 
whorl. This form is currently known from Western 
Australia as well as from the Philippines, Taiwan and 
Japan (Figs 8-10). 
A third name, Siratus hirasei was given by Shikama 
(1973: 5) who described another form from Japan, 
with broad varices, short spines and broad, straight, 
short siphonal canal as illustrated here (Figs 11-12). 
Finally, S. vicdani was described by Kosuge (1980: 
55) who separated it from both S. alabaster (Reeve, 
1845) and S. pliciferoides. It differs from the latter by 
having angulate shouldered spire whorls and more 
strongly webbed varices (Figs 13-14). 
Siratus pliciferoides being the oldest available name, 
ail the other names were considered objective junior 
synonyms by Vokes (1971: 86), Fair (1976: 69) and 
Radwin & D’Attilio (1976: 107), for Siratus 
propinquus only, the other shells having been 
described after Vokes (1971). Fair (1976) and Radwin 
& D’Attilio (1976) probably were not aware of the 
description of Siratus hirasei in a little-known 
Japanese publication. 
Houart (1992: 110) and Merle et al (2011: 100) also 
considered ail these names as being conspecific. 
Since 1992, 1 had the opportunity to examine 
numerous specimens of ail these forms from the 
geographical distribution area and 1 am less certain 
about some of these names being synonym of S. 
pliciferoides. Maybe eventual DNA researches will 
confirm or invalidate the validity of these names. 
Another new species, probably part of this group, is 
here described for the first time from the Philippines. 
Abbreviations 
Repository 
EGS coll. : Collection of Evelyn Guillot de Suduiraut 
IRSNB: Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de 
Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium. 
MNHN: Muséum national d'Ffistoire naturelle, Paris, 
France. 
RH coll. : Collection of the author. 
Terminology used to describe the spiral cords 
(after Merle, 1999 and 2001) (Text Fig. 1) 
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; 
ABP: abapertural primary cord on the siphonal canal; 
ads: adapertural secondary cord on the siphonal canal; 
ms: médian secondary cord on the siphonal canal; 
abs: abapertural secondary cord on the siphonal canal. 
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