Synopsis, classification and revision of molluscan turri-form conoidean fauna of the hawaiian islands, with the Description of 89 new species and four new genera

by Wiedrick, Shawn G.

• ISBN13: 9798317811426
• ISBN10: 8317811425
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-08-26
• Publisher: BookBaby

Summary

As one of the largest island chains globally, the volcanic Hawaiian Islands represents a diverse tropical marine fauna that continues to scientifically evolve. Known to most as a small group of islands, this expansive range from Kure Atoll to Hawaii spans more than 2550 kilometers. The remote nature of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands has limited the understanding of a more complete faunal composition, an aspect addressed in the proceeding work. Several comprehensive illustrated monographs of Hawaiian mollusks (Kay, 1979; Sysoev in Severns, 2011a–g), in addition to some lesser detailed works (Edmondson, 1933; 1946; Severns, 2000; Polhemus, 2020), have provided malacologists with an insight to the molluscan fauna of this vast island range. The history of new discoveries of conoidean fauna from the Hawaiian Islands has evolved from various authors (Mighels, 1845; Pease, 1860; Dall, 1924; 1895; Iredale & Tomlin, 1917; Finlay, 1927; Powell, 1967; 1969; Cernohorsky, 1978a; Kay, 1979; Stahlschmidt & Chino, 2012; Wiedrick 2015; 2017). As one of the larger archipelagos in the central Pacific Ocean and a unit of the highly biodiverse Indo-Pacific, it is expected that undescribed species are yet to be discovered from this region of the tropics. Locality isolation tends to yield larger numbers of species undescribed to taxonomists (Bouchet, Lozouet & Sysoev, 2009; Bouchet in Poppe, 2011; Fedosov, 2011; Wiedrick, 2017). Recent authors (Kay, 1990; Chang in Thorsson, 2001a; Sysoev in Severns, 2011a–g), have discussed the extreme diversity of turri-form conoideans, and the challenges associated with completely comprehending such a complex group, particularly micro and minute species, which are often overlooked, yet abundant in most shallow water environments. Assessments of benthic bulk samples often produce rare or new species, especially from remote localities. The proposed work focuses on the turri-form conoidean fauna of the Hawaiian Islands based on several private collections recently sampled from relatively shallow waters (0–425 m). The lack of accurate depth range and specific distribution patterns within the Hawaiian Islands of the conoidean fauna has prompted a study of such data, which is here proposed to clarify a more granular understanding of ecological factors. Although this study is comprehensive in understanding nominal and new species, additional fauna is certain to be discovered in future studies.
The evolution of contributory works on turri-form conoidean systematics have been based on morphology (Gray, 1838; 1853; H. & A. Adams, 1853; Bellardi, 1875; de Gregorio, 1880; Tryon, 1884; Sacco, 1904; Casey, 1904; Dall, 1918; Hedley, 1922; Powell, 1942; 1966; McLean, 1971; Cernohorsky, 1972a; Bouchet, 1990; Taylor, Kantor & Sysoev, 1993; Kantor & Taylor, 2002; Bouchet et. al., 2009; Chino & Stahlschmidt, 2009; Stahlschmidt, Poppe & Chino, 2014; Stahlschmidt, Poppe & Tagaro, 2018; Stahlschmidt, Chino & Tardy, 2022) and phylogenetics (Taylor et. al., 1993; Rosenberg, 1998; Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005; 2017: Puillandre, Samadi, Boisselier, Sysoev, Kantor, Cruaud, Couloux & Bouchet, 2008; Puillandre & Holford, 2010; Puillandre, Kantor, Sysoev, Couloux, Meyer, Rawlings, Todd & Bouchet, 2011; Bouchet, Kantor, Sysoev & Puillandre, 2011; Kantor, Strong, Puillandre, 2012b; Kantor, Stahlschmidt, Aznar-Cormano, Bouchet & Puillandre, 2016; Kantor, Horro, Rolán & Puillandre, 2018; Kantor, Fedosov & Puillandre, 2018; Uribe, Zardoya & Puillandre, 2018; Abdelkrim, Aznar-Cormano, Fedosov, Kantor, Lozouet, Phuong, Zaharias & Puillandre, 2018; Chase, Watkins, Safavi-Hemami & Olivera, 2022; Zaharias, Kantor, Fedosov & Puillandre, 2024) which form the basis of the systematic arrangement proposed.
Four major collections were the foundation of this study, including the authors (91.8%), the Robert B. Moffitt (5.6%), Don E. Hemmes (2.3%) and Phil Liff-Grieff (0.3%) collections.

Author Biography

Shawn Greggory Wiedrick was born January, 1978 in Long Beach, California. He graduated from Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA with a AA degree in Illustration Design and from Long Beach State University of Long Beach, CA with a BA degree in Art Education. After various employment assignments in construction, motor sports, retail and social services, the author attended and graduated from California State University of Fullerton, CA with a MS in Environmental Studies and was advised in the Biological Science Department under Dr. Douglas J. Eernisse. His successful thesis defense on the molecular and morphological analysis of the genus, Paciocinebrina Houart, Vermeij & Wiedrick, 2019 concluded his degree. He concurrently joined the staff of the Invertebrate Paleontology Department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, CA and was employed afterwards until the COVID-19 pandemic, and is currently an Operations Manager for a Long Beach, CA based solar company.

Shawn's interest in shell collecting began at a very young age while living in Huntington Beach, CA, as his parent's residence was about a mile from the beach. His father, an avid woodworker, assisted Shawn in building shell cases for his collection, encouraged shelling trips to local beaches, and away to places like, Monterey, CA, Port Gamble, WA and Sanibel Island, FL. His father also assisted with purchasing shell books and specimens to encourage his hobby. Shawn joined the Pacific Conchological Club in 2004 and shortly after began volunteering in the Malacology Department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, CA under the Curator of Malacology, Dr. James "Jim" Hamilton McLean. In 2005, Shawn received his PADI certification and began diving in addition to his previous intertidal collecting. His continued research has taken him along the coastline between Texas to North Carolina, Washington to the northern Pacific coast of Baja California, San Felipe, Baja California, Santa Rosalia to Loreto and La Paz, Baja California Sur, Puerto Peñasco and Guaymas, Sonora State and Acapulco, Guerrero State, México. Additionally, several trips to Costa Rica and Aruba, Netherland Antilles, one trip to Pacific Panama, The Bahamas, Ireland and eight one-week trips to the Hawaiian Islands. Shawn also attended a one-month expedition to New Caledonia hosted by Dr. Philippe Bouchet of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France and a three week Bioblitz at the University of Guam, hosted by Dr. Robert Lasley, Jr. and Dr. Gustav Paulay. Shawn collects terrestrial and marine mollusks, but focuses more on turri-form conoideans and Muricidae and has described more than sixty-five new species/genera prior to the current work.