''Aeneator'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the

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

Buccinidae The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Buccinidae. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Acc ...

, the true whelks.

Description

''Aeneator'' is a genus of small to medium sized marine snails. Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 Large shells and fossils of ''Aeneator'' can sometimes be confused with those of ''

Penion ''Penion'' is a genus of large marine (ocean), marine snails, commonly known as siphon whelks, classified within the mollusc family (biology), family Austrosiphonidae, the true whelks.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Penion P. Fischer, 188 ...

''.

Distribution

Most extant species of ''Aeneator'' are found around

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 ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

,Juan Francisco Araya, A new species of Aeneator Finlay, 1926 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Buccinidae) from northern Chile, with comments on the genus and a key to the Chilean species; ZooKeys 257: 89–101, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.257.4446
/ref> and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. Stilwell, J.D., Zinsmeister, W.J. 1992. Molluscan systematics and biostratigraphy, lower Tertiary La Meseta Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. American Geophysical Union Antarctica Research Series 55: 126-128. DOI: 10.1029/AR055
Numerous fossil species are also described from New Zealand.

Evolution

''Aeneator'' is closely related to the genus '' Buccinulum''.

Species

Species in the genus ''Aeneator'' include: * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator antorbitus'' ( Fleming, 1955) * '' Aeneator attenuatus'' ( Powell, 1927) * '' Aeneator benthicolus'' ( Dell, 1963) * '' Aeneator castillai'' (H. S. Mclean & Andrade, 1982) * '' Aeneator comptus'' (

Finlay Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh. Given name Finlay * Finlay Mickel, Scottish skier *Finlay Currie (1878–1968), Scottish actor * Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby pl ...

, 1924) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator conformatus'' ( Marwick, 1931) * † '' Aeneator delicatulus'' ( Powell, 1929) * '' Aeneator elegans'' ( Suter, 1917) *'' Aenator fontainei'' (d'Orbigny, 1841) * '' Aeneator galatheae'' ( Powell, 1958) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator henchmani'' ( Marwick, 1926) * † '' Aeneator huttoni'' (

, 1930) * '' Aeneator loisae'' (Rehder, 1971) * † '' Aeneator marshalli marshalli'' (R. Murdoch, 1924) ** '' Aeneator marshalli separabilis'' ( Dell, 1956) * '' Aeneator martae'' (Araya, 2013) * † '' Aeneator nothopanax'' ( Fleming, 1954) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator orbitus'' ( Hutton, 1885) * '' Aeneator otagoensis'' (

, 1930) * '' Aeneator portentosus'' (Fraussen & Sellanes, 2008) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator perobtusus'' ( Fleming, 1943) * † '' Aeneator problematicus'' ( Fleming, 1943) * '' Aeneator prognaviter'' (Fraussen & Sellanes, 2008) * '' Aeneator recens'' ( Dell, 1951) * † '' Aeneator thomsoni'' ( Marwick, 1924) * † '' Aeneator valedictus'' (Watson, 1886) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator validus'' ( Marwick, 1928) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator wairoanus'' ( Marwick, 1965) * † ''(Ellicea) Aeneator willetti'' ( Fleming, 1955) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Aeneator benthicola'' ic synonym of '' Aeneator benthicolus'' Dell, 1963 * † ''Aeneator huttoni'' Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992: synonym of † '' Prosipho stilwelli'' Beu, 2009 * ''Aeneator valedicta'' ic: synonym of '' Aeneator valedictus'' (Watson, 1886)

References

External links