An Endemic Morum Röding, 1798 (Harpidae: Moruminae) from Central Western Australia

A new species of Morum Röding, 1798 from the deep water of the central Western Australian Coast is described. Collected in 100-250 m of water off Coral Bay by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), Morum stricklandi nov. sp. is known from only five specimens collected over a period of 10 years searching its known habitat. It differs from the only other endemic Morum from Queensland, M. morrisoni D. Monsecour, Lorenz & K. Monsecour, 2020, in being smaller, bulbiform, and more spinose, and in lacking a columella plate covering the anterior of the shell, and from the southeastern Australian Morum bruuni (Powell, 1958) in sculptural form and lacking a coloured columella. Similar in size and with a white aperture to M. cancellatum (G.B. Sowerby I, 1824), Morum ninomiyai Emerson, 1986, and Morum watanabei Kosuge, 1981, these species are not only restricted to different molluscan provinces but have consistent morphological differences that enable them to be discerned from the new species. We expect greater understanding of the habitat and distribution of existing molluscan biodiversity will be gained with further ROV exploration in deep water off the central Western Australian Coast.