The genus Haedropleura (Neogastropoda, Toxoglossa=Conoidea) in the Plio-Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin

The Plio-Quaternary representatives of Haedropleura Monterosato in Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883 are revised. Protoconch and teleoconch characters of 84 fossil and live-collected specimens belonging to the genus, mainly from the Mediterranean basin, were quantitatively assessed. The characters examined allow better delimitation of variability in the genus along with the recognition of eight morphotypes. In particular, four morphotypes were attributed to known species: H. septangularis (Montagu), H. bucciniformis (Bellardi), H. contii (Bellardi) and H. secalina (Philippi), whereas two are described as new species: H. formosa and H. parva. Another two morphotypes represented in our material by few, poorly preserved specimens remain undescribed. We designate three lectotypes (H. bucciniformis, H. secalina and H. septangularis) in order to stabilize usage of the names. The Haedropleura alpha-diversity in the Plio-Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin is also discussed.