Volutidae and Volutomitridae of the Southern Indian Ocean (Gastropoda : Prosobranchia)

This dataset comes from Arnuad & van Mol (1980) who published about the anatomy, ecology and distribution of the Volutidae and Volutomitridae of the Southern Indian Ocean.

Three benthic surveys were done with the M/S Marion-Dufresne in the subantarctic waters of the Indian Ocean. During cruise MD.03 (1974) several stations were made (including 50 macrobenthic samples) off Kerguelen, Heard and Crozet Islands between shallow water and 4200 m. Cruise MD.04 (1975) concentrated on the shelf around Kerguelen Islands, with 231 macrobenthic samples, and cruise MD.08 was mostly concerned with the Marion-Prince Edward shelf (49 macrobenthic samples) and the Crozet shelf (99 macrobenthic samples).

We collected 3 species of volutid and volutomitrid gastropods at 65 stations, in 73 samples, by trawls, dredges and grabs: Provocator pulcher Watson, 1882; Volutomitra curt a (Strebel, 1908) and V. fragillima Watson, 1882. Study of the plentiful specimens provides the first thorough insight into these 2 allied neogastropod families in this area. Many faunistic and biogeographic data are recorded and the resulting distribution of the 3 species obtained is mapped.