Hidden in plain sight: two co-occurring cryptic species of Supplanaxis in the Caribbean (Cerithioidea, Planaxidae)

By

Strong, Ellen E
Bouchet, Philippe, 1953-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

991

Pages

85--109

Subjects

Distribution , radular morphology , shell morphology , synonymy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.991.57521

 

Abstract

The cerithioidSupplanaxis nucleus(Bruguière, 1789) is widespread in the Caribbean, where it lives in often dense aggregates on hard surfaces in the middle-high intertidal. Molecular evidence shows that it comprises two species that are in fact morphologically diagnosable. We fix the nomenclature ofSupplanaxis nucleusby designating a sequenced neotype from Bruguière’s historical locality of Barbados, and identify the second, cryptic species asS. nancyae(Petuch, 2013). The two live syntopically across the Caribbean and form a closely related species group with the PanamicS. planicostatus(G.B. Sowerby I, 1825).Planaxis nucleolaMörch, 1876, described from St Croix, in the Virgin Islands, never again recorded in the literature but listed as a synonym ofS. nucleusin taxonomic authority lists, is recognized as a valid species ofHineaGray, 1847.ProplanaxisThiele, 1929 andSupplanaxisThiele, 1929, are synonyms and the latter is given precedence over the former.