Galapagos Species Database

Taxon category: Accepted

Finet (2001): Reported from the Galapagos by Metivier (1968); the syntypes, from the Cuming collection (BMNH n° 1966388) are of uncertain locality: “Peru or Galapagos or Nicaragua”; Sowerby (1866, Thes. Conch. III : pl. IV, fig. 66) gave no locality in his description; Pilsbry (in Tryon, 1890) says “Habitat unknown” but gives a description based on a specimen from the Galapagos; later on, Pilsbry & Vanatta (1902) also cite the Galapagos (Tagus Cove and Point Christopher, Isabela Isl.) as locality for longifissa , considering that it is a color form and thus a synonym of Fissurella macrotrema Sowerby, 1835, the latter species being furthermore synonymized in their paper with Fissurella obscura Sowerby, 1835. The examination of the type specimens of Fissurella longifissa (Finet, 1994) shows that the species seems more closely related to Fissurella obscura than to F. macrotrema or virescens; although being eroded beach specimens, the syntypes of longifissa show form and colour patterns resembling those of obscura (see Finet, 1994). Fissurella obscura is supposed to be endemic to the Galapagos, while F. longifissa is known from the mainland between Central America and northern Peru. Whether both taxa are valid and separate, or represent different morphs or environmental expressions of the same species (in this case, longifissa would be a junior synonym of obscura) remains a question for further research. The question was also discussed in Finet, 1994.

Origin: Native

Distribution: From San Juan del sur, Nicaragua, to La Plata island and Ecuador including Galapagos islands.

• Finet, Y. (1994) Marine Molluscs of the Galapagos. Gastropods - A monograph and revision of the families Haliotidae, Scissurellidae, Fissurellidae and Lottiidae. Monographs on Galapagos Mollusca no. 1. Ed. L'Informatore Piceno, Ancona, 110 pp.
• Finet, Y. (1994) The Marine Mollusks of the Galápagos Islands: a documented faunal list Muséum d'Histoire naturelle, Genève, 180 pp.
• Finet, Y. (2001) The marine mollusks of the Galapagos Islands: a documented faunal list. Editions du Muséum d' Histoire naturelle, Genève, 237 pp.
• Horton, T. Horton, T., Kroh, A., Ahyong, S., Bailly, N., Boyko, C. B., Brandão, S. N., Gofas, S., Hooper, J. N. A., Hernandez, F., Holovachov, O., Mees, J., Molodtsova, T. N., Paulay, G., Decock, W., Dekeyzer, S., Poffyn, G., Vandepitte, L., Vanhoorne, B., Adlard, R., ... Zhao, Z. (2021) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ.
• Keen, A.M. (1958) Sea Shells of Tropical West America. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, 1st edition, 624 pp.
• Metivier, B. (1968) Mollusques marins récoltés par M.R. Hofstetter sur les côtes de l'Equateur et aux îles Galapagos: Chitonidae et Fissurellidae. Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris (2e série) 40(3): 585-596.
• Pilsbry, H.A. (1888-98) In: Tyron, G.W., Jr. & Pilsbry, H.A. (1879-98): Manual of Conchology (Ser. 1). Philadelphia, Academy of Sciences vol. 1-17.
• Pilsbry, H.A. Vanatta, E.G. (1902) Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition, 1898-1899. XIII: Marine Mollusca. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences 4: 549-560.
• Sowerby, G.B., Jr. (II) ([1842] 1847-87) Thesaurus Conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells [ed. by G.B. Sowerby, Jr., completed by G.B. Sowerby (III)], vols. 1-5. London.