After ten years of work and thanks to the help of the Spanish Society of Malacology (SEM), the Toralla Marine Science Station (ECIMAT) and the Institute of Culture, Science and Technology (ICCT), Anselmo Peñas and Emilio Rolán published the book entitled “Deep Water Pyramidelloidea From Central And South Tropical Pacific: The Tribe Chrysallidini“, edited by the Publications Service of the University of Vigo.
This book contains an exhaustive study of the genera and species of the tribe Chrysallidini (Gastropoda, Pyramidelloidea) from deep waters of the Central and South Tropical Pacific, specifically from New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and the Philippines. The samples were mainly collected during the expeditions carried out by the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour lle Développement, Nouméa) and the MNHN (Muséum National d´Histoire Naturelle, Paris) during the years 1979 and 2007 and processed during the following 15 years, each of them being photographed with high quality using electron microscopy.
Of the total of 233 described species, only 21 could be identified as previously known species, with 212 described as new to science. Most of them are rare, with 32 species represented by only one specimen and 101 species by fewer than three individuals, with only 14 species represented by more than 50 specimens.
Within the study area, the Solomon Islands hosted the most species (141 spp.), followed by Fiji (74 spp.), Vanuatu (65 spp.), New Caledonia (59 spp.) and the Philippines (40 spp.). On the contrary, the specific richness was lower in the Marquesas (32 spp.) and the Austrais Archipelago (5 spp.). Most of the species listed are endemic to these islands.
As researcher Jesús Troncoso (director of ECIMAT and president of SEM) points out, “this is a work of great scientific quality, with excellent iconography; a book that should not be missing from the libraries of all malacologists, collectors or nature lovers.”
