''Alcithoe fusus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of medium-sized

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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

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 ...

Volutidae ''Volutidae'', common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm. They are marine gastropod mollusks. Most of the species have no operculum. Distribution This family of sea snails ...

, the volutes.

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

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

* Dell, R. K. (1956). Some new off-shore Mollusca from New Zealand. Records of the Dominion Museum. 3(1): 27-59. * Powell A W B, ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 * Glen Pownall, ''New Zealand Shells and Shellfish'', Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 * 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. * Hills S.F.K., Trewick S.A. & Morgan-Richards M. (2011). Phylogenetic information of genes, illustrated with mitochondrial data from a genus of gastropod molluscs. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 104: 770-785

External links

Quoy, J. R. C. & Gaimard, J. P. (1832-1835). Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe : exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Zoologie

Swainson, W. J. (1824). The characters of several new shells, belonging to the Linnean Volutæ, with a few observations on the present state of conchology. Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts. 17(33): 28-38

Hutton, F. W. (1873). Catalogue of the marine Mollusca of New Zealand, with diagnoses of the species. Didsbury, Wellington, xx + 116 pp.

Murdoch, R.; Suter, H. (1906). Results of dredging on the continental shelf of New Zealand. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 38: 278-305
Volutidae Gastropods of New Zealand Gastropods described in 1833 {{Volutidae-stub