''Inquisitor awamoaensis'' is an extinct

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), ...

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 ...

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda (Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), Bouchet & Ro ...

, 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 New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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