Ophieulima minima

• Main Authors: Souza, Leonardo Santos De, Pimenta, Alexandre Dias, Barros, José Carlos Nascimento De
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Caenogastropoda; Eulimidae; Ophieulima; Ophieulima minima; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/4557514; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4557514

Ophieulima minima (Dall, 1927) (Figure 19 A–G) Stilifer minima Dall, 1927: 73. Ophieulima minima: Warén & Sibuet (1981: 381, figs. 1–5); Hoffman et al. (2011: 34, figs. 45–46); Romani et al. (2014: 1, figure 1A–F); Hoffman & Freiwald (2020: 89–90). Type material. Holotype USNM 108039 (Figure 19A, G). Type locality. USA: Off Georgia, USFC stn. 2668 (30°58′30″N 79°38′30″W, 538 m), 05/v/1886. Material examined. Type material; Brazil: Alagoas: (09°20′S 34°59′W, 452 m), 18/xii/2001: MNRJ 35223 † [1 dd]. Measurements. Holotype USNM 108039, ~6 whorls, SL= 2.3 mm; BWL= 1.6 mm; AL= 1.0 mm; SW= 1.2 mm; AW= 0.8 mm. MNRJ 35223†, ~6 whorls, SL= 1.9 mm; BWL= 1.3 mm; AL= 0.9 mm; SW= 1.0 mm; AW= 0.6 mm. Remarks. Dall (1927) recorded four specimens in the original description. Warén & Sibuet (1981) described two paratypes under the same catalog number as the holotype. No other specimen than the holotype (Figure 19A, G) was found in the USNM and the status of these other shells is unknown or they are presumed lost (E. Strong, personal communication). Warén & Sibuet (1981: 384) redescribed the species and noted that the variation in shape of the type specimens is great and that the identification of the material by them is questionable, because the northeast Atlantic specimens studied are even broader than the types. Bouchet & Warén (1986: 348) also considered the shell morphology of the species quite variable, with an evident sexual dimorphism (males are half the size of females). Beside the variation in size and shape correlated with the sexual dimorphism, a variation in shell sculpture can also be observed. Warén & Sibuet (1981: 384) commented that none of the types shows the spiral striation that occurs in some well-preserved specimens from the Northeast Atlantic examined by them. The latter authors described this spiral sculpture as irregular, extremely fine scratch-like striae present in some small areas of the shell that are less corroded in such specimens. The examination of SEM images of the ...