Lautoconus ventricosus ( Gmelin, 1791 )

Kovács, Z. & Vicián, Z., 2013, Badenian (Middle Miocene) Conoidean (Neogastropoda) fauna from Letkés (N Hungary), Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 30, pp. 53-100 : 73

Lautoconus ventricosus ( Gmelin, 1791)

( Figs 70–72)

1786 Kegelschnecken N. 46 – KÄMMERER, p. 91, pl. 6, figs 3–4.

1791 Conus ventricosus – GMELIN, p. 3397.

1792 Conus mediterraneus Hwass – BRUGUIÈRE, p. 701, pl. 330, fig. 4.

1999 Conus (Chelyconus) ventricosus – MUÑIZ, p. 65, figs 3/A, 8/K–L (cum syn.)

2012 Conus (Lautoconus) mediterraneus Hwass in Bruguière – LOZANO, p. 135, pl. 10, fig. 5.

Material – 82 specimens.

Description – Shell medium-sized (SL: 16–34). Spire of moderate height, outline straight. Spiral whorls smooth. Shoulder angulate. Body whorl ventricosely conical, outline slightly convex, smooth with fine ridges at the base. Aperture wide. Subsutural flexure almost diagonal.

Remarks – The species characterised by high level of intraspecific variability. 62 taxa were listed by TENORIO & RAYBAUDI-MASSILIA (2012) as synonyms. The Letkés material slightly differs from the type ( KÄMMERER 1786), but it is similar to the specimens figured by DAVOLI (1972, pl. 8, fig. 16), MALATESTA (1974, pl. 30, fig. 11), CHIRLI (1997, pl. 4, figs 3–4, 6), and MUÑIZ (1999, fig. 8/K–L). L. ventricosus differs from Varioconus ponderosus in angulate shoulder.

Distribution – L. ventricosus is an extant species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and Senegal. Fossil records: Canary Islands, Italy, Portugal, (M-H), Germany, Syria (M), Belgium (LM-MM), Austria (MM), Malta (UM), Tunisia (UM-LP), Morocco, Spain (P), Cyprus, France (P-H). Hungary: Letkés (MM).

Lautoconus sp.

(Fig. 73)

Description – Shell fragmentary, large (SL: 51). Spire of moderate height, outline convex. Spiral whorls smooth, convex. Suture deep. Shoulder rounded. Body whorl ventricosely conical, outline convex, smooth with fine grooves at the anterior end. Subsutural flexure asymmetrically curved, of moderate depth.

Remarks – The robust shell of the specimen resembles that of the hypotype of L. belus illustrated by HALL (1964, pl. 22, figs 4, 10), and the L. belus specimen figured by SPADINI (1990, pl. 1, fig. 3); however, the large size is not typical of this species. Chelyconus rotundus is also a similar form, but it has lower spire. The poor state of preservation does not allow the specific identification.