Hirtomurex taranui Marshall & Oliverio, 2009 (Fig. 10C, D)

Hirtomurex taranui Marshall & Oliverio 2009: 166, fig. 3J, K.

Hirtomurex sp. A – Oliverio 2008b: 552, fig. 110.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: New Zealand, off Gisborne, 38°46’S, 178°48’E, 750-913 m, NIWA stn E719, alive (NIWA 48756).

Paratypes: New Zealand, Mercury Knoll, E of Mercury Island, 36°30.27’S, 176°30.45’E,, 990-1100 m, 1 alive (NMNZ M.152743). — Rumble V volcano, southern Kermadec Ridge, 36°08.75’S, 178°12.11’E, 712-924 m, 1 (NIWA TAN 0107/323).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Banc NE of Rapa, BENTHAUS, stn DW 1904, 27°26.5’S, 144°03.4’W, 600-900 m, 1 dd (Fig. 10C, D).

DISTRIBUTION. — Southern Japan (Tsuchiya 2000: 409, fig. 234). Southern New Caledonia, Loyalty Ridge and Norfolk Ridge, shells only in 537-780 m, alive in 508-532 m (Oliverio 2008b). Austral Islands, one empty shell in 600- 900 m.

REMARKS

The present material is concordant with the type material of H. taranui from New Zealand. It has been confused in some collections with Hirtomurex kawamurai (Shikama, 1978) from which it differs in its less constricted base and more stepped spire.