Collector Tan, Nappo & Bouchet, 2026, gen. nov.

Résumé fourni par la source

Genus Collector gen. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 65E9D649-4F86-41CF-A3E5-31A0D8492783 Etymology: From the masculine Latin noun “collector, -is”, synonym of its cognate “collector” in English, aptly referring to the intensive “collecting” behavior of the genus, which rivals in intensity the two other heavy collecting genera, Xenophora and Austrophora. Type species: Collector altissimus gen. nov. et sp. nov. Description: Shells medium-small, conical, high-spired, very fragile and thin, white in color, suture deep, flat or slightly convex whorls and flat base, small umbilicus half covered by inner lip. Peripheral flange thin and slightly corrugate bearing foreign objects in its circumference. Shell sculpture composed of numerous irregular opisthocline spiral cords. Basal sculpture composed of weak and thin collabral ribs, intersected with very weak and numerous spiral ribs. Protoconch brown, multispiral, of around 4 whorls, strongly sculptured, ¾ of upper area and ¼ of lower area of whorl well-separated by a strong spiral cord. Upper area sculptured with opisthocline axial ribs, intersected by numerous, very thin spiral cords, lower area with a granulose sculpture disposed in prosocline lines. Subtriangular operculum, with nucleus in the upper area. External side sculptured by concentric growth lines intersected by very faint radial lines. Internal side with a very distinct and thick attachment scar, sinusoid shaped. Remarks: Collector exhibits a set of characters that clearly distinguish it from all other genera within the family Xenophoridae. The most distinctive feature is its very tall, strongly sculptured protoconch with numerous whorls—traits that are absent in all other genera, which instead have a low, smooth protoconch, sometimes bearing only axial growth lines at most. Morphologically, Collector is superficially similar to Xenophora, but it can be easily distinguished by its much lighter and thinner shell structure, its markedly high spire, and the dense spiral sculpture both on the whorls and the base. Collector resembles Austrophora, from which it differs by having a strongly concave base and a long, serrated operculum, very similar to those found in Strombidae. Ponder (1983: 94, fig. 12D) illustrated the protoconch of a specimen from off Raine Island, Queensland, which actually belongs to Collector, but misidentified it as Xenophora pallidula, a species that has a flat, smooth protoconch. This misidentification is further confirmed in the species description, where the author writes: “Protoconch of about 4½ whorls, dark brown, with axial ribs and weak spiral striae (Fig. 12d).”

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