''Inquisitor awamoaensis'' is an extinct
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 in the
family Pseudomelatomidae
Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatominae ...
, the turrids and allies.
[Marshall, B. (2015). Inquisitor awamoaensis (Hutton, 1873) †. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=831552 on 2016-04-10]
Description
(Original description) The shell has an elongato-fusiform shape. The spire produced is larger than the body whorl. The whorls are rounded, spirally striated, and transversely ribbed. Those on the body whorl become obsolete towards the anterior end. The suture is spirally striated. The aperture is narrow. The posterior canal is moderate, the anterior rather produced.
F.W. Hutton, Catalogue of the Tertiary Mollusca and Echinodermata of New Zealand in the Collection of the Colonial Museum; New Zealand Geological Survey, 1873
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Distribution
This extinct marine species is endemic to New Zealand
References
* Beu, A.G. & Maxwell, P.A. (1990) ''Cenozoic Mollusca of New Zealand''. New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin, 58, 1–518
* Maxwell, P.A. (2009). ''Cenozoic Mollusca.'' pp 232–254 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
awamoaensis
Gastropods of New Zealand
{{paleo-Pseudomelatomidae-stub