Terebra limatula Dall,1889 and T, acrior Dall, 1889 (Gastropoda: Terebridae); two problematic taxa from the western Atlantic

摘要

In a recent paper Terryn (2011) synonymized Terebra limatula Dall, 1889 and T. I. var. acrior Dall, 1889. This paper proposes that the two taxa are separate species; and that Terryn's determination that Terebra crassireticula Simone, 1999 is a juniorsynonym of T. limatula may also be in error. When Dall first described Terebra limatula, he had with him specimens from a number of localities that ranged from Barbados to the Gulf of Mexico to North Carolina. He advised the reader that there seemed to be two different types of sculpture: "The sculpture of the Antillean specimens tend to be stronger, the alveoli between the ridges deeper, and the spirals fewer than in the northern specimens. The latter usually have three or four above the suture, the Antillean two or three. If these differences are worth naming, the variety may be called T. limatula var. acrior'" (Dall,1889: 66).