Convergence with naticids: phenotypic phylogenetic study on some Antarctic littorinoideans, with description of the zerotulid new genusPseudonatica, and its presence in Brazil (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda)

Abstract

Some Antarctic littorinoideans have a remarkable convergence with Naticoidea in shell and operculum features. Two naticid-like species of that group are studied in their phenotypic features in order to improve their taxonomy and to discuss the meaning of that convergence, as the former are herbivore-detritivore and the latter active predatory organisms. One of the studied species is the littorinidLaevilacunaria antarctica(Martens, 1885). The other belongs to a new genus –Pseudonatica, with the type species also newly described:P. antarctica, the genus is tentatively placed in Zerotulidae. Another Pseudonatica is also described,P. ampullarica, based only on shells collected by Marion-Dufresne French expedition off Brazilian coast, this finding expands the occurrence of zerotulids northwards. Besides the similarities of shell and operculum, other structures of these Antarctic species also show singular similarities with naticoideans, such as the wide foot, the complexity of opercular attachment in pedal opercular pad, the wide oesophageal gland, and the coiled arrangement of the pallial oviduct. The phenotypic characters were coded and inserted in a previous large phylogenetic analysis on Caenogastropoda (Simone, 2011), furnishing a wide basis for discussion on the characters, taxonomic position, evolution and adaptations of these organisms.