''Cordieria ovalis'' is a species of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Borsoniidae Borsoniidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Borsoniidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.o ...

Description

The size of the shell attains 13 mm, its width 9 mm. (Original description) The small, oval shall has a short spire consisting of 4 rapidly diminishing

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). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s. The outline of the whorls is slightly convex. The oval

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

measures rather less than half the length of the shell. The outer lip is thick, the inner lip is not callous. The columella shows 3 distinct folds. The aperture is obtuse anteriorly. Each whorl has about 15 radial costae slightly raised and continuous from suture to suture. These costae are turned slightly backward. A number of sharp spiral threads, which, however, are interrupted, on the costae. The suture is impressed and not bordered. On the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the 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. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

the costae decrease anteriorly, and are not distinct on the base. Many of the spiral threads, however, continue into the aperture. This shell, owing to the coarseness of its sculpture, has a somewhat rude appearance, and is very characteristic.P. Marshall (1917) Tertiary Molluscam Fauna of Pakaurangi Point.Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 50 (1917), p. 269
/ref> The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

is kept at the Wanganui Museum.

Distribution

This marine species is endemic for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordieria Ovalis ovalis Gastropods of New Zealand Gastropods described in 1917