Pyrgiscus jeffreysii (Jeffreys, 1848)

Høisaeter, Tore, 2014, The Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) of Norway and adjacent waters. A taxonomic review, Fauna norvegica 34, pp. 7-78 : 67-68

Pyrgiscus jeffreysii ( Forbes & Hanley, 1850 -51)

Chemnitzia Jeffreysii Forbes & Hanley, 1850 -51:251 (in synonymy)

Turbonilla jeffreysii (Forbes & Hanley) - Fretter et al. 1986; Graham 1988

Turbonilla jeffreysii ( Jeffreys, 1848) - Peñas et al. 1996; Öztürk & Bakir 2013

Turbonilla (Pyrgisculus) jeffreysii (Forbes & Hanley) - Winckworth 1932

Turbonilla (Dunkeria) jeffreysii (Jeffreys) - Smith & Heppell 1991

Melania scalaris Philippi, 1836:157 (not Melania scalaris Wagner in Spix, 1827, nor Melania scalaris Sowerby, 1829 )

Chemnitzia scalaris (Philippi) - Forbes & Hanley 1850 -51; Clark 1855; Jeffreys, 1859

Odostomia scalaris (Philippi) - Jeffreys 1848, 1867; Jeffreys 1884; Marshall 1900

Pyrgulina (Pyrgisculus) scalaris (Philippi) - Monterosato 1884

Parthenina (Pyrgostelis) scalaris (Philippi) - Kobelt 1903

Pyrgiscus scalaris (Philippi) - Ankel 1936

Turbonilla scalaris (Philippi) - van Aartsen 1981; Rolán Mosquera 1983

Turbonilla (Pyrgisculus) scalaris (Philippi) - Iredale 1915

Turbonilla (Dunkeria) scalaris (Philippi) - Nordsieck 1972

Type material: Not known (see van Aartsen 1981).

Type locality: Exmouth??

Material seen: None.

Diagnosis: Shell: Pyrgiscus with somewhat compressed, cyrtoconoid shell. Apical angle about 25° to 30°. Total shell length not exceeding 6 mm. Number of whorls 8 or less. Spire pointed, with distinctly shouldered, sometimes angulated whorls. Colour cream, with 2-3 brownish bands encircling the last whorl, disappearing on dead shells. Sculpture straight, lamellar, axial ribs with numerous spiral elevations in the intervals. Aperture rhomboid, no visible columellar fold. Protoconch probably at an angle of about 90° to the teleoconch, but perhaps somewhat immersed in the teleoconch as well. (From Jeffreys 1867, Kobelt 1903, van Aartsen 1981, and Fretter et al. 1986). Soft parts: Not known. Operculum: Not known.

Biology: This species has been reported from moderately shallow depths, 3-50 fathoms, from muddy gravel in association with hydroids, especially species of Halecium . According to Fretter et al. (1986) “Food. The hydroids with which they occur, perhaps mainly species of Halecium, Hydrallmannia and Antennularia since their nematocysts occur in the faeces.”

Distribution: No reliable records from Norway. It is a southern species never positively identified as Recent in north European waters. The only statement to the contrary stems from Jeffreys (1884), who cites McAndrew as source for a record from Norway. In the same place Jeffreys reports the species from Unst in Shetland. Both records need verification as they are in opposition to all other available records, which indicate a lusitanian range, from the Adriatic and Aegean in the Mediterranean and Madeira in the Atlantic, to St. George’s Channel between Wales and Ireland and to a line between Torquay and Cherbourg in the English Channel ( Jeffreys 1867; 1884; Marshall 1900; Kobelt 1903). Not mentioned by McKay & Smith (1979), and thus not likely to be found on the North Sea coast of Scotland. According to Fretter et al. (1986) “From the Mediterranean north to southern Scandinavia and the west coast of Sweden. Not in most of the North Sea nor in the Channel and Irish Sea”. According to Warén (in Hansson 1998), probably not part of the Scandinavian fauna.

Remarks: The nomenclature of this name is somewhat convoluted. It is usually attributed to Forbes & Hanley (1850 - 51), who introduced it in the comments to Chemnitzia scalaris Philippi “Among collectors this shell has generally been distinguished by the manuscript name Jeffreysii …”. A similar and earlier, informal introduction is however due to Jeffreys (1848) after listing a number of synonyms for Odostomia scalaris (Philippi) “Var. a. testacei coloris; costae admodum pauciores. Exmouth (Mr. Clark, who gave to this variety the MS name of Jeffreysii ).”