Described in Spanish (click Spanish flag)

Marginella (Prunum) Antillean new species DESCRIPTION. Large, globose shell with a visible whorl, characterized by a constriction on the left side near the anterior end. Its globose shape is manifested by the convexity of the dorsum and the parietal area. The opening is shorter than the last whorl, the labral callus is well developed and curved at the level of the columellar folds. The posterior commissure borders the last suture. The columellar edge of the inner lip is concave, the first of the four folds being the narrowest. The background color is straw-yellow, pale in all the specimens studied, with irregular white spots that tend to form axial rows. In the holotype, paratype and other specimens studied there are two very pale brown spots on the labral callus. MATERIAL STUDIED. Marginella antillana is based on a batch of six empty shells collected from sand dredged for construction purposes. Holotype IRSNB IG 27.485/453 22.5 x 12 mm Paratype in the author's possession, 22 x 11 mm TYPE LOCATION. Beach, Havana Province, about 80-100 m from the coast. Collected from sand dredged at 10-20 m depth. This coastal area was called Marianao. ETYMOLOGY. Its name corresponds to the Antillana Province to which Cuba belongs, its type locality.
REMARKS. The delicate straw-yellow colour of Marginella antillana new species is of equal tone in all six specimens studied. This colour is not common and apparently does not occur as a variety of any other colour. One of the specimens studied, a 16 mm long juvenile with a simple apertural margin without a labral callus, has intact surface polish and gloss, and shows the concavity of the columellar margin, the left lateral constriction and the bulging shape, all diagnostic characters. The holotype of Marginella antillana new species, at 22.5 mm long, places the species among the largest within the genus in the Antillean Province. DISCUSSION. We compared Marginella antillana new species with M. pruinosa Hinds, 1844 (synonym M. nivea C.B. Adams, 1850), 8-9 mm long. Both species have an open whorl, a generally similar shape and a yellowish colour. They differ in that the new species is much larger, with the last whorl more swollen, the shape of the opening is different, sinuous, as a result of the slight concavity of the columellar edge and the convexity of the inner edge of the labrum at the same level, and the opening increases in width from the middle to the anterior end. On the other hand, Marginella pruinosa lacks the constriction that characterises the new species and does not have brown spots on the labrum that are distinguished, although paler, in Marginella constrica, the new species. To discuss Marginella antillana, the new species, Marginella pruinosa Hinds, 1844 was selected. I point out here that the name of this species appears incorrectly written as Marginella pruniosa (Hinds, 1844) in some publications. The name pruinosa, a Latin word meaning frost, covered with frost, is associated with the appearance of the opaque white spots on the background color of the shell. This clarification is necessary to avoid possible confusion arising from this transcription error. To confirm the correct name, Marginella pruinosa Hinds, 1844, the following were consulted: DALL (1885: 164) and CLENCH & TURNER (1950: 317).