THE GENUS LINDAPTERYS (NEOGASTROPODA, MUR ICIDAE) - AN EXAMPLE OF RANGE DISJUNCTION IN TROPICAL MARINE AREA

The genus Lindapterys is revised and all known species are illustrated . This genus is identified for the first time in the Indo-West Pacific area (L. murex) as well as in the Miocene of the Aquitaine Basin (L. cf. poppelacki) and the Loire Basin (L. alata). Up to now L. alata has been confused with a species of the middle Miocene from Touraine here in described as Daphnellopsis tournoueri n. sp.. Nowadays the Lindapte rys species show a remarkable disjunction in their distribution (two C aribbean and one Indo-West Pacific species). However, the study of the protoconchs of fossil and present-day Lindapterys indicates that the oldest species (L. poppelacki and L. vokesae from the lower Miocene in Aquitaine and Florida) have a protoconch of planctotrophic type where as the present-day species have a protoconch of non planctotrophic typ e. This fact suggests that changes in dispersal capacity of the larva, together with tectonic events (suppression of communication between w estern and eastern Mesogea) and climatic events, have played a part in reduction of the Lindapterys distribution area.