Report on the Raphitomidae Bellardi, 1875 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Conoidea) from the China Seas

Twenty-seven Raphitomidae species belonging to nine genera, are recorded from the China Seas, including two new species, which are described here: Asperdaphne paramoretonica sp. nov., Daphnella inangulata sp. nov. Eight species are recorded for the first time from the China Seas.


Introduction
, in their reclassification of the superfamily Conoidea, recognized several subfamilies within the restricted family Turridae H. & A. Adams, 1853. More recently, Bouchet et al. (2011) published a genus-level reclassification of Conoidea, in which the subfamily Raphitominae is elevated to a full family. The raphitomid genera Kermia-Pseudodaphnella complex constitutes a group with diverse and easily recognizable species by sculpture and colour pattern. Based on the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene and morphological characters, Fedosov and Puillandre (2012) recently studied the phylogeny and taxonomy of the Kermia-Pseudodaphnella complex. Their results indicated the close relationships of the genera Kermia and Pseudodaphnella with members of some other conoidean genera, and high developmental plasticity in the evolutionary history of this group.
In China, the turrids have been poorly studied, with the exception of a few common species reported in some mollusc papers such as those by Yen (1941), Ma (1983Ma ( , 2004 and Chang (2001). When we sorted the mollusc collection in the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), numerous turrid specimens from the Bohai Gulf, Yellow Sea and East and South China Seas were identified and reported (Liand Li 2007a, 2007b2008a, 2008bLi, Li and Kilburn 2010a;Li, Kilburn and Li 2010b). The fauna of Raphitomidae of the China Seas comprises 109 species (reported as subfamily Daphnellinae Hedley 1922, see Li 2008; however, 103 of these species were only reported from the Taiwan area (China) and were not collected by IOCAS in their many surveys since the 1950s. The aim of this paper is to complete the records of Raphitomidae from the China Seas. As a series report on the turrid material, this paper reports 27 species of the family Raphitomidae (Table 1), including 21 species that are not included in the list of 109 species (Li 2008), two new species, and eight species that have not previously recorded from the China Seas.

Material and methods
The shells were collected during investigations carried out since the 1950s, including the "National Comprehensive Oceanography Survey" (NCOS, 1958(NCOS, -1960, "China-Vietnam Marine Resource Joint Investigation of the Beibu Gulf" (1959)(1960)(1961)(1962) and "China-Germany Marine Biota Cooperative Investigation of Hainan Island, China" (1990-1992. This material was collected from localities in the East and South China Seas, including the areas off Fujian, Guangdong, Beibu Gulf (Gulf of Tonkin), Hainan Island, Xisha Islands (= Paracel Islands), Nansha Islands (= Spratly Islands), as well as the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf. All the specimens examined are deposited in the Marine Biological Museum, Chinese Academy of Sciences (MBMCAS) in the IOCAS. The genera and species are arranged alphabetically in the text. Measurements are given for no more than five specimens of each species to shorten the text. If more than five are available, the largest, the smallest and three medium-sized specimens were measured. The distributions of each species in this paper are provided not just from the China Seas, but including other countries and regions for reference. To reduce the length of this paper, most of the species are not provided with a normal description, with the exception of the two new species and three other species that need to be re-described because their original descriptions were too short to show the important characters for identification. These three species are Eucyclotoma cymatodes (Hervier 1897a), Kermia cavernosa (Reeve, 1845) and Kuroshiodaphne supracancellata (Schepman 1913). In the synonymy sections, some works are not listed with reference to pages and/or plates because of the absence of illustrations.
The following abbreviations are used in the text: Institution abbreviations: AMS, the Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia; IOCAS, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; MBMCAS, Marine Biological Museum of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the IOCAS; MNHN, Muséum national

Remarks
Some Kuroshiodaphne Shuto, 1965 species may be superficially similar to Asperdaphne but differ in the diagonally cancellate sculpture of their protoconch, whereas Asperdaphne spp. have a protoconch with microscopic spiral threads or rows of pits.
( Figure 1A) Etymology "par", Greek, para-= close to, similar to, resembling. The specific name implies the similarity of the new species with Asperdaphne moretonica Smith, 1882.

Distribution
Only known from the type locality SCS, China.

Remarks
The new species is very close to Asperdaphne moretonica Smith, 1882, but differs from it with its less coarse, less nodular shell sculpture.

Distribution
Bohai Gulf, Yellow Sea, Taiwan and SCS; Japan, Australia.
Remarks Kuroda et al. (1971) reported the colour of the species, based on specimens from Japanese waters, with light yellowish brown, bearing two vertical and lateral brown  zones. All our five specimens are pure white, without colourful zones. This may be caused by long-term preservation in alcohol. The habitat of this species was muddy sand and gravel sediments.
Genus Daphnella Hinds, 1844 Type species Pleurotoma lymneiformis Kiener, 1840 Remarks Laseron (1954) proposed Paradaphne Laseron, 1954 as a new genus differing from Daphnella Hinds, 1844 only geographically, without morphological differences. That is to say, Laseron (1954) classified the Indo-Pacific species as Paradaphne while maintaining the Atlantic species in Daphnella. Powell (1966) considered Paradaphne as a synonym of Daphnella and indicated the range of recent species of this genus as from the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Hawaii to the Caribbean and tropical West America. The present record expands the range of the genus to the China Seas.

Description
Shell large, fusiform, with tall spire, spire with height about as long as combined height of aperture and siphonal canal. Body whorl obviously enlarged, suture narrow, distinct. Spiral whorls eight, including five teleoconch whorls, cancellated by sinuous fine axial and spiral ribs; and three protoconch whorls, worn to a certain extent, especially the first two protoconch whorls, the last whorl with less cancellate sculpture. Overall sculpture of dense axial and spiral ridges, rendered cancellate and granulose by crossing of even denser axial ribs. With large, wide, sinuous aperture, base of columella slightly foreshortened; siphonal canal wide, fusiform, not indented. Outer lip thin, with weakly notched edge; anal sinus openly, very widely concave, presenting a converse L subsutural. Uniformly light yellowish brown.
Etymology "in-", Latin, non, lack. The specific name refers to the close similarity of the new species with Daphnella angulata.

Distribution
Only known from the type locality SCS, China.

Remarks
The species is very similar to Daphnella angulata Habe and Masuda, 1990, but differs from the latter by the shell shape. In Higo et al. (2001): fig. G. 3856), the figures of the holotype of D. angulata show that the angle on the spire is above the middle on spire whorls, instead of the base as in our specimen; the spire whorls of the present type specimen are not shouldered as those in the holotype of D. angulata; the spiral ridges of the present specimen are coarser than those of the holotype of D. angulata. Additionally, our specimen is more biconical in shape than the holotype of D. angulata.

Distribution
Taiwan, Xisha Is.; From Mauritius to Japan.

Distribution
Bohai Gulf, Yellow Sea, SCS; Japan, Philippines, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

Remarks
The specimen is a worn juvenile shell. It is very close to D.suluensis Schepman, 1913 in shell profile with exception of the smooth protoconch, whereas in the holotype of D.suluensis the base of the protoconch shows remnants of axial ribs.
Genus Eucyclotoma Boettger, 1895 Overall sculpture of dense spiral ridges, rendered granulose by crossing of even denser axial ribs; early whorls with submedian angle, later ones evenly convex except for two or three slightly stronger ridges below midwhorl. First teleoconch whorl with median keel, above and below single spiral ridge, cancellated by sinuous, suture-to-suture axial ribs, with foveolate interstices; keel weakening, number of ridges increasing with growth, third and penultimate whorls each with total of 13-15 spiral ridges, two or three (including the weakened keel) slightly stronger than others, all rendered somewhat nodular by close axial ribs, base of last whorl with 12 wide-set spiral ridges, bearing rounded nodules where intersected by axial riblets, plus seven smooth, rounded cords on rostrum. Offwhite, streaked with brown.

Distribution
Xisha Is., Nansha Is.; China to New Caledonia. Not previously recorded from the China Seas.

Remarks
The original four syntypes from Lifou were also checked. The species resembles Eucyclotoma carinulata (Souverbie, 1875) but differs from the latter in its much broader and finer spiral ridges, not conspicuously keeled. It can be distinguished from Daphnella tenuiclathrata (E. A. Smith 1882) by the coarser sculpture and base being not constricted. The species is differentiated from Daphnella crebriplicata (Reeve, 1846) by the presence of stronger spiral cords and the whorls are less convex, while D. crebriplicata lacks stronger spiral cords, and the whorls are more evenly convex.

Description
Shell oblong, rather thick and solid, 12.9 mm in length, 5.6 in width and 5.9 in aperture, with wide, sinuous aperture, expanded basally, base of columella slightly foreshortened; siphonal canal wide, deep and rounded, not indented; suture distinct, narrow but deep. Outer lip thickened, with coarse nodules edge; anal sinus openly and widely concave, parietal pad thickening of outer lip. Overall sculpture of dense spiral ridges, rendered cancellate and granulose by crossing of even denser axial ribs, spiral ridges different in thickness, two to three stronger spiral ridges in penultimate whorls, about three fine spiral ridges in the interval of two stronger spiral ridges, while, six stronger spiral ridges in the body whorl, and three to five fine spiral whorls in interval zone; axial ribs dense, narrow, suture to suture, about 20 in later whorls. Whorls six, early whorls with sub-median angle by strong spiral ridges, body whorl evenly convex. Protoconch rounded, smooth. Off-white, stained with brown.

Distribution
Only known from Xisha Is., SCS, China.

Remarks
The species is very similar to Eucyclotoma varicifera (Pease, 1868) in shell profile and cancellate, granulose sculpture, but differs from the latter by the thicker shell, while the holotype of E. varicifera is thin and slightly translucent.

Remarks
This benthic species is distributed in more than 1000 m depth, on a silty mud bottom. Sysoev (1997) described this species as dull reddish-violet, whereas our specimens are light brown. This species was not previously reported from the China Seas.

Remarks
The study on the Indo-Pacific genus Kermia Oliver, 1915, is inadequate and its limits are also unclear (Kilburn 2009). Kilburn (2009) reported four new species and four new records of this genus from South African waters and discussed this genus in detail.

Remarks
This species resembles Kermia pustulosa (De Folin, 1867) in shell profile and sculpture, but differs from the latter in shell colour. In K. barnardi, the colour alternates brownish purple with distinct white axial nodules where the spiral cords cross the axial ribs, and fifth spiral ribs in body whorl are white; while that of K. pustulosa is uniformly yellowish brown, and at the fourth spiral on the last whorl the colour is white.

Description
Whorls slightly flattened at periphery. Aperture oblong-ovate, inner lip evenly curved; outer lip weakly curved in side-view, anal sinus openly U-shaped, stromboid notch distinct, lip with up to six short ridges internally, becoming weak anteriorly; terminal varix narrow, raised, short distance behind lip.
Sculpture cancellate, with spiral cords forming sharp nodules where they cross axial ribs; base of last whorl with distinct waist. Axial ribs extending from suture to rostrum, in transect rounded, sides gently sloping, more or less equal in width to intervals; nine ribs on first teleoconch whorl, 11-13 on penultimate one. Spiral ridges sharp, much narrower than intervals, expanded slightly where cross ribs; two to three on early whorls, four to five on penultimate whorl, base of last whorl with one ridge, separated by gap from four to five nodular cords on rostrum; outer edge of lip with seven cords. Interstices with faint to microscopic collabral threads. Protoconch conical, of about three convex whorls, diagonally cancellate. Uniform yellowish-brown with paler nodules. Dimensions: 5.9 × 2.5 mm (syntype P.cavernosa).

Distribution
Qingdao (Shandong Province); Philippines. Not previously recorded from China Seas.

Remarks
Our only specimen agrees very well with that of Zhang (1995) in shell profile, except for the shell colour, which is light yellow, while Zhang's specimen is uniformly purple. Description (based on holotype) Narrowly fusiform, spire high and acute, siphonal canal slightly oblique, end obliquely truncate, not indented, slightly expanded; early whorls slightly flattened, later ones more convex; suture shallow. Outer lip with its edge notched internally, corresponding to external ridges, in side-view flattened, slightly prosocline basally; anal sinus slot-like, asymmetrically tongue-shaped, directed very slightly adapically; columella with thin, somewhat rugose, callus.

Genus
First four teleoconch whorls with cancellate sculpture of distinct, straight axial ribs, crossed by slightly narrower spiral ridges; ribs 14-17 per whorl, extending from subsutural spiral to lower suture; ribs evanesce after fourth whorl. Spiral ridges narrow, wide-set, three on first whorl, with fourth half-concealed in lower suture, nine on penultimate whorl, of which one forms low, angular subsutural cord, followed by declivous, moderately wide concavity; intervals with finer intermediaries, with one usually stronger than others; base with 25 wide-set spiral ridges. Interstices with dense spiral threads, crossed by weak, flattened axial riblets, visible more as incisions; on last part of last whorl more distinctly incised, almost beading the main ridges.
Protoconch slightly worn, over three whorls, at least last two diagonally cancellate, with sigmoid, opisthocline riblets crossed (on lower three-fifths of the whorl) by prosocline ones; breadth 0.50 mm. Dull reddish-brown, ridges slightly darker, aperture white.

Remarks
Pseudodaphnella alternans is similar to P.excellens (Sowerby III, 1913), but differs from the latter by not having an angle on the shoulder, in having less strong axial ribs, and weak lip denticles. This species was not previously reported from China Seas.

Distribution
Xisha Is.; Japan, Fiji Is. Not previously reported from China Seas.

Remarks
The only specimen has a less strong sculpture than that of the syntype of Pseudodaphnella crasselirata (Hervier 1897a) in NHMUK. In the present paper, we concur with Hedley (1922) that Hervier's crasselirata should be treated as a full species "in view of the confusion that surrounds Pleurotoma albifuniculata Reeve, 1846, I have preferred to use Hervier's name" (Hedley 1922, p. 346). Actually in the absence of type material of the latter, and in view of the unrecognizable type figure, Pleurotoma albofuniculata is here regarded as a nomen dubium.

Remarks
Reeve (1843) described this species with delicate sculpture, and the spiral ribs coloured alternated with irregular white and black. The number of axial ribs on the last whorl are variable, up to 16, with the average number 12 to 14 ribs. Our three specimens were collected from intertidal zone in 1958, purely white, and the axial ribs on the last whorl numbering 13 to 15. Zhang (1995) reported that his specimens collected from Taiwan, were white, with brown on point. The difference in shell colour may be the result of depigmentation by the tidal action and sunshine.

Distribution
New Guinea to southern China.

Remarks
This specimen resembles Veprecula vepratica (Hedley, 1903), but differs from the latter in shell shape. The obvious characters of this species are the prickly nodules formed by axial ribs crossing the spiral ridges. This specimen is also close to Veprecula hedleyi Melvill, 1917, but difffers from the latter by having more numerous and slowly growing whorls, and more teleoconch whorls.