On Coralliophila richardi (P. Fischer, 1882) and its synonymy with C. lactuca Dall, 1889 (GASTROPODA: Muricidae: Coralliophilinae), with notes on original descriptions, type material, and related taxa

Coralliophila richardi (P. Fischer, 1882) is re-evaluated through direct examination of type material and original descriptions, confirming its synonymy with C. lactuca Dall, 1889. The species exhibits a compact ovoid shell with a short spire and foliaceous lamellae—an unusual trait within the Coralliophilinae, otherwise characterized by squamose or scaly sculpture. It occurs at bathyal depths between 278 and 896 m, associated with framework-forming scleractinians (Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata) in both the eastern and western Atlantic. Recent phylogenomic analyses indicate that C. richardi and the western Pacific Emozamia licina (Hedley & Petterd, 1906) constitute a single genetic lineage spanning the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, representing the first verified example of a cosmopolitan corallivorous muricid. Pending formal taxonomic revision, the Indo-Pacific population is provisionally retained under its traditional designation to maintain comparative consistency. Comparative morphological and ecological analyses with the Indo-West Pacific Coralliophila fimbriata (A. Adams, 1853), lamellate Babelomurex species, and the superficially similar shallow-water muricid Crassilabrum crassilabrum (Gray, 1828) reveal that foliaceous varices have evolved independently within Muricidae and cannot, in isolation, be regarded as indicative of phylogenetic affinity. To contextualize C. richardi within the regional fauna, a consolidated checklist of Atlantic and Mediterranean Coralliophilinae is provided, incorporating verified distributional and bathymetric data standardized according to the UNESCO/IOC GOODS and NOAA CMECS benthic frameworks, refined following the insular biogeographic model of Ávila et al. (2018). The results clarify the morphological diagnosis, bathymetric distribution, and ecological associations of C. richardi, establishing it as the sole unequivocally lamellate representative of the Atlantic–Mediterranean Coralliophilinae and highlighting its evolutionary equivalence with E. licina. The study emphasizes the recurrent convergent evolution of lamellate sculpture within Muricidae and the necessity of integrative taxonomic approaches combining morphology, ecology, and molecular phylogenetics to resolve convergence and homology in coral-associated gastropods. No nomenclatural acts are proposed.