Velutina velutina

Velutina aff. velutina (Müller, 1776) (Fig. 10G 1-G 3) aff. Bulla velutina Müller, 1776: 242. aff. Velutina laevigata – Wood 1848: 152, pl. 19, figs 8 a-b. — Harmer 1923: 760, pl. 60, fig. 26. aff. Velutina velutina – Van Regteren Altena et al. 1965: 26, pl. 10 fig. 99. — Símonarson & Eiríksson in Eiríksson & Símonarson 2021: 269, pl. 7.4, fig. 2. — Van Nieulande et al. 2022: 16, fig. 1. MATERIAL AND DIMENSIONS. — Maximum height 3.5 mm, width 4.5 mm. — RGM.1364920 (1), leg. WG; RGM.1365002 (4), leg. ACJ; RGM.1365186 (1), leg. AWJ; RGM.1365104 (93), leg. AWJ; RGM.1365206 (2), leg. AWJ. SPECIES CHARACTERISATION. — Capuliform shell with paucispiral protoconch and rapidly expanding last whorl resulting in large circular aperture, disjunct last whorl. DISTRIBUTION. — Lower Pleistocene: Atlantic,Selsoif, France (this paper). REMARKS The specimens from Selsoif differ from Velutina velutina (Müller, 1776), in being thicker shelled and in having a narrower last whorl that is disjunct. The aperture is large and ovate, with the margin erect on the medial side, reminiscent of that seen in a Capulus species. Disjunct last whorls occur in numerous gastropod groups as a variable feature, often associated with gerontic individuals. This does not seem to be the case with the Selsoif species, as most of the specimens are juvenile and both the disjunct whorl and the thicker shell are constant characters. Wood (1848) described Velutina virgata from the Lower Pliocene Coralline Crag of England, said to differ from V. velutina in the form of the less ovate aperture and the less curved outer lip making the spire slightly more elevated. We have not seen this species, but the specimen illustrated by Wood (1848: pl. 29, fig. 1) and Harmer (1923: pl. 60, fig. 27) has quite a different profile and shape of the aperture from the Selsoif specimens. Vetulina plicatilis (Müller, 1776), another Atlantic circumboreal species extending in Europe southwards to northern Spain differs in having a much larger expanded aperture. We are unsure if these Selsoif specimens represent an unknown Vetulina species. However, due to the unusually small size of the specimens for the genus and worn preservation, we hesitate to erect a new species.