(Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1882)
From the cuvierii complex. « A form with thin and close ribs, of the sponge fauna […] from the coasts of Tunisia. » – Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1882: Les mollusques marins du Roussillon tome I, Paris 1882, p.55. The species is restricted to the Gulf of Gabès. Original taxon: Nassa costulata var. “tenuicosta”. synonym: Nassa ferussaci exigua Pallary, 1904.
« Shell bucciniform, ovate, slightly glassy; protoconch […] paucispiral, of 1.5 glassy whorls, teleoconch of 5 convex and tight whorls, sculptured with evenly spaced axial ribs, 15 on penultimate whorl and 19 on last whorl, present also all the way to outer lip; spiral sculpture consisting of 15-17 cords on body whorl, weaker above periphery and on spire. Aperture narrow-ovate, outer lip forming a double varix, coarsely denticulated inside; columella convex, bearing 2 denticles which can be very weak; parietal callus rather thin, with very weak or without parietal denticle. Siphonal canal short, wide. Siphonal fasciole distinctly raised. » – Aissaoui, Galindo, Puillandre & Bouchet: “The nassariids from the Gulf of Gabès revisited (Neogastropoda, Nassariidae)”, Marine Biology Research vol. 13(4), p.382.
« Shell bucciniform, ovate, slightly glassy; protoconch […] paucispiral, of 1.5 glassy whorls, teleoconch of 5 convex and tight whorls, sculptured with evenly spaced axial ribs, 15 on penultimate whorl and 19 on last whorl, present also all the way to outer lip; spiral sculpture consisting of 15-17 cords on body whorl, weaker above periphery and on spire. Aperture narrow-ovate, outer lip forming a double varix, coarsely denticulated inside; columella convex, bearing 2 denticles which can be very weak; parietal callus rather thin, with very weak or without parietal denticle. Siphonal canal short, wide. Siphonal fasciole distinctly raised. » – Aissaoui, Galindo, Puillandre & Bouchet: “The nassariids from the Gulf of Gabès revisited (Neogastropoda, Nassariidae)”, Marine Biology Research vol. 13(4), p.382.
Specimens from Djerba island. 8-9,5mm.
Original pictures provided by A. Capici (IT).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –
« Background colour beige-cream, occasionally with narrow, light-brown spiral bands at suture, periphery and siphonal fasciole. Height 8-9mm, exceptionally 12mm. » – Ibid. Above: Nassa costulata var. “tenuicosta”. Lectotype MNHN-IM-2000-31757 from the B.D.D. collection, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (France). 11,6mm. Original pictures provided by M. Caballer for the MNHN – (CC BY).