The conoidean genus Belalora Powell, 1951 (Gastropoda, Mangeliidae) under the magnifying glass: an exclusive inhabitant of Magellanic waters

Belalora cunninghami (E. A. Smith, 1881) is compared with B. thielei Powell, 1951 from Atlantic waters, and B. striatula (Thiele, 1912) and B. weirichi (Engl, 2008) both from Antarctica. New complete specimens of B. cunninghami collected in Chonchi, Chiloé, and Cordes Bay, Strait of Magellan, Chile and off Mar del Plata, Argentina allow the study of shell, radula, penis, operculum and details of the ornamentation of the protoconch. We conclude that the genus Belalora encompass two species B. thielei, type species of the genus, and B. cunninghami both living in the magellanic region. In addition, the comparison of the radula and shell of “B.” striatula and “B.” weirichi, indicate that these Antarctic species belong to a different perhaps undescribed genus. The morphology of the shell of Fusus sublutus Gould, 1849 and Lora equatorialis Dall, 1919 once included in Belalora proof to belong in a different taxon.