Spondylus linguafelis G. B. Sowerby II, 1847
SOWERBY II, G. B. 1847. Descriptions of several new species of Spondylus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 15: 86-88. [p. 87]
1847 Spondylus linguafelis G. B. Sowerby II, 1847
Spondylus lingua-felis, Sow.; G. B. Sowerby II, 1847, Monograph of the genus Spondylus, Thesaurus conchyliorum; or, monographs of genera of shells, plate 88, figure 50.
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«SPONDYLUS LINGUA-FELIS. Spond. testâ ovali, crassâ, areâ cardinali et auriculis magnis; costis numerosis, vix elevatis, spinis brevibus, aequalibus, numerosis armatis; colore fusco, subtùs croceo.
A much more solid shell than S. asperrimus, with the hinge large; the colour is a uniform dark brown, which is shown in the interior by a vvell-defined border. The shell is covered by nearly equal ribs, vvhich are armed by short, thick, slightly curved prickles.
Hab. — ? Mus. M. Grüner.» GEORGE BRETTINGHAM SOWERBY II, 1847
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«Additional Description: Cat-tongue, as in the species name, describes the sculpture of this species well. The short, strong spines are not broken, but stay naturally very short in all specimens seen. The ribbing is regular, without any clear partition. The inner margins are narrow and dark colored, corresponding to the exterior color; the marginal crenulations are comparatively fine and regular. The muscle scars are flat, and the hinge teeth brown in both valves. The typical color is a uniform brownish-red color, the spines equally or somewhat lighter colored. The umbonal portion is whitish, dark sprinkled. Spondylus linguafelis is unusually heavy for an Indo-Pacific species and as such close to the Panamic S. limbatus and S. crassisquama.
History: Spondylus linguafelis is an uncommon species. To date, only five specimens are known. Three of these are the missing but well depicted original Gruner specimen, the neotype, and a second specimen from Reeve’s BMNH series (Figure 8), all these without locality data. The BMNH material possibly came from the Philippines. Further known are two specimens from the Philippines in the author’s collection (Figure 9); one from Olango Island, from 73 m, and a larger specimen probably from Cebu. In addition, Gonzales (1905) reported a specimen from Basilan Island in the Philippines. True S. linguafelis was not correctly depicted in over 150 years. Because this Philippine species is virtually unknown, it may well be present under erroneous names in other collections. The sparse available data indicate a broad Philippine distribution, probably in deeper water than most spondylids.
Discussion: G. B. Sowerby II (1847) described this species from a specimen in the Gruner Collection, Bremen, Germany, from an unknown locality; neither Polynesia, nor Hawaii, was mentioned, as erroneously stated by subsequent authors. The Gruner Collection was sold and partly acquired by Foebbecke. However, in the Loebbecke Museum, Düsseldorf, no S. linguafelis stemming from the Gruner Collection can be located (personal communication, J. Boscheinen, October 2007). Thus, the type is considered lost.
Reeve (1856: pl. 7, fig. 27) depicted a specimen from the Cuming Collection that fits the above characters precisely. This specimen was painted by the original author and was accepted by subsequent experts is here designated as neotype to fix the concept of this species. Furthermore, Reeve’s lot contains a second specimen, slightly smaller, very close in color and morphology that helps stabilize the concept of this uncommon species. Fulton (1915), after comparing S. asperrimus and S. linguafelis in the BMNH, accepted both as valid. He stated, “The linguafelis is a heavier shell, of darker color and different form.” Indeed, both species may have a similar cat-tongue sculpture, with sharp, short, prickly scales. But S. linguafelis is markedly heavier and the spines more solid. Whereas S. asperrimus (Figure 10) is usually less than 100 mm in size, S. linguafelis attains more than 100 mm. All S. linguafelis seen have the same uniform dark color, whereas S. asperrimus is usually found in variations of white. In shape, S. linguafelis is somewhat more regular and pectiniform, with the upper valve less inflated. Most importantly for this paper, the species from Hawaii or Panamic offshore islands usually referred to “S. linguafelis" does not fit Sowerby's original description. Hawaiian specimens are more fragile than asperrimus and much lighter than linguafelis. Instead of a strong, short cat-tongue sculpture with thick prickles, a multitude of needle-like spines is present. A uniform dark brown color is not reported for the Hawaiian species, but rather orange, yellow, white, purple, and red are known. The strongly marked, brown internal border is also not present in Hawaiian and Panamic specimens. Consequently, Dali, Bartsch & Rehder (1938) considered the Hawaiian species as new and described it as S. gloriosus from Oahu (Figure 11). This is the valid name for this famous species, mainly known from Hawaii (Keen, 1971: 96) but it has also been reported as S. linguafelis from the offshore islands of the Panamic Province by Kaiser & Bryce (2001) from Isla Malpelo, Isla del Coco, Islas Galápagos and Islas Revillagigedo and from ile Clipperton by Kaiser (2007). However, Keen (1971) had it right, but unfortunately provided no illustration. Kay (1979) added S. kauaiensis Dali, Bartsch & Rehder, 1938, as a synonym of S. gloriosus. However, I do not agree with the additional synonym S. mimus Dali, Bartsch & Rehder, 1938. Spondylus mimus is regarded here as an uncommon, rather small, but valid species, as depicted by Severns (2000: 236) under “S. nicobaricus” from Hawaii. Longer spined, smaller Philippine, Okinawan or Solomon specimens often labeled as “linguafelis” are referable to S. swinneni Lamprell, Stanisic & Clarkson, 2001, as well depicted by Lamprell (2006: pl. 33) (Figure 12).» HUBER, M. 2009. Name changes for the two well-known Panamic spondylids. The Festivus, 41 (7): 103-109, figs. 1-12. [p. 106, 107]
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Spondylus lingua-felis, Sowerby; L. A. Reeve, 1856, Monograph of the genus Spondylus, Conchologia Iconica, plate 7, figure 27.
Spondylus linguafelis G. B. Sowerby II, 1847; M. Huber, 2009, Name changes for the two well-known Panamic spondylids, figures 7 (lectotype herein, MHNG), 8, 9 (no locality, BMNH).
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