Studies on bathyal and abyssal buccinidae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda): 1. Metula fusiformis Clench and Aguayo, 1941

Based on the morphology of the radula and shell, Metula fusiformis Clench & Aguayo, 1941 is transferred to the predominantly Indo-western Pacific genus Manaria . This species occurs in upper continental slope communities (183- 578 m) of the Caribbean Sea and the northern coast of South America. The holotype was collected dead in 2,633 m, well below the depth inhabited by this species. The large well-developed gland of Leiblein , a sepa rate sperm ingesting gland between the capsule gland and albumin gland , and three-cusped rachidian teeth are features that Manaria shares with other fusiform buccinids (e.g., Penion , Serratifusus ) as well as with primitive members of other families within Muricacea. These features are interpreted as being symplesiomorphic, and suggest that the fusiform buccinids are among the more primitive members of the Buccinidae.