Description of a new species from Muscat (Oman) in the species group of Volvarina monilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

A new Volvarina species collected in shallow waters of the Muscat region (southern Gulf of Oman) is described as V. masqatena and considered to belong to the species group of Volvarina monilis (Linaeus, 1758). The species is described on the grounds of its shell morphology and of its animal chromatism. It is compared both with the sympatric V. charbarensis (Melvill, 1897) and with the allopatric populations of V. charbarensis and of V. monilis from Masirah Island (Eastern Oman) and from the Dhofar (southern Oman). The occurrence of a V. monilis complex is discussed, referring to a possible circum-african distribution.