<I>Lepetella furuncula</I> sp. nov. (Vetigastropoda: Lepetelloidea): the first species of the genus discovered in the South Atlantic Ocean (northeastern Brazil)

Abstract

The genus Lepetella Verrill, 1880 is reported here for the first time in the South Atlantic Ocean (northeastern Brazil) based on the description of Lepetella furuncula sp. nov. The new species is compared to the majority of the Atlantic and Mediterranean congeners (Lepetella tubicola Verrill and S. Smith [in Verrill], 1880; Lepetella ionica F. Nordsieck, 1973; Lepetella barrajoni Dantart and Luque, 1994; Lepetella espinosae Dantart and Luque, 1994; and Lepetella sierrai Dantart and Luque, 1994), and is unique in having a scalene triangle-shaped shell in side view, a large anterior region, and an apex well posterior to the center of the shell. There is no record of specimens of Lepetella associated with the tubes of polychaetes off the Brazilian coast.