''Ividella maoria'' is a

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 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the family

Pyramidellidae Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micromol ...

. It was first described by Baden Powell in 1940. It is endemic to the waters of New Zealand. The mollusc was the first of its species to be identified in New Zealand, and as of 2022 remains the only endemic ''Ividella'' species in the country.

Description

''Ividella maoria'' has a small shell with a typical protoconch, and typically measures 3 millimetres in height and between one and three in diameter. The species looks very similar to the type species of the genus, '' Ividella navisa'', but can be distinguished from its eastern Pacific counterpart by the presence of a narrow umbilical cleft.

Distribution

The species is

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 ...

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 ...

. The first specimens were identified between Piwhane / Spirits Bay and

Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands The Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands (Manawatāwhi is also the Māori language, Māori name for the largest island) are a group of 13 uninhabited islands about northwest of Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, New Zealand, where the Pacific Oce ...

. Additional specimens have been found in the waters near

Cape Maria van Diemen Cape Maria van Diemen is the westernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand. A tombolo, it was originally an island composed mainly of basaltic-andesitic lava flows and dykes. Drifting sands joined it to the rest of the North Island duri ...

and the

Poor Knights Islands The Poor Knights Islands (Māori: ''Tawhiti Rahi)'' are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They lie to the northeast of Whangārei, and offshore halfway between Bream Head ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q49608900 Pyramidellidae Gastropods described in 1940 Gastropods of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Taxa named by Arthur William Baden Powell