species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
sea snail
Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...
, a marine
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Horaiclavidae
Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snail
Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomi ...
.Rosenberg, G. (2012). Aoteadrillia wanganuiensis. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=599039 on 2012-06-29
It was formerly included within the family
Turridae
Turridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family name for a number of predatory sea snails, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). ...
.
Description
The length of the shell attains 9 mm, its diameter 3.9 mm.
(Original description) The shell has a fusiform shape. The
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...
is produced, longer than the
body whorl
The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...
. The
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
In nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...
s are rounded, strongly spirally striated, and obliquely ribbed in the centre. The suture is very finely obliquely striated and with a spiral rib. The
aperture
In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
is oval. The siphonal canal is short.(described as ''Pleurotoma wanganuiensis'')
(Description by
Henry Suter
Henry Suter (born Hans Heinrich Suter, 9 March 1841 – 31 July 1918) was a Swiss-born New Zealand zoologist, naturalist, palaeontologist, and malacologist.
Biography
Henry Suter was born on 9 March 1841 in Riesbach, Zurich, Switzerland, an ...
) The small, fairly solid, whitish shell has a fusiform shape. The suture strongly margined. The
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
In nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...
s are angulated by a row of large nodules. The
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...
is high. The anal sinus is moderately deep. The
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
consists of a row of large oval nodules on the middle of the whorls, about 14 on a whorl. Those on the last two whorls are somewhat stretched out towards the suture below and incised in the middle by a spiral linear groove. A very strong spiral cord margins the suture below, and a fine thread above. The latter is continued as a rather strong cord on the
body whorl
The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...
, and is succeeded below by a similar cord. The base of the body whorl is adorned with fine spiral threads, close together upon the beak. The whole sculpture is crossed by very fine, strongly flexuous, and oblique growth lines. The spire is high, conic, somewhat less than twice the height of the
aperture
In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
. The
protoconch
A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called " ...
consists of 2 whorls, which are microscopically spirally striate. The nucleus is oblique, rounded, the second volution shows a sharp median keel. The shell contains 7 whorls, regularly increasing, roundly angled at the middle by the nodules, concave above and below it. The body whorl is slightly convex, contracted at the base. The suture is linear and bimarginate. The aperture is oblique, oval, angled above, produced below into an oblique short and open
siphonal canal
The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...
, slightly notched at its base. The outer
lip
The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...
is sharp, somewhat strengthened on the outside, moderately convex, contracted below, with a fairly deep and rounded sinus in the depression above the row of nodules. The
columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to New Zealand and occurs off Ninety Mile Beach, North Island.
Fossils have been found in
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Spencer H.G., Willan R.C., Marshall B.A. & Murray T.J. (2011) ''Checklist of the Recent Mollusca Recorded from the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone''