''Antarctoneptunea'' 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

mollusk 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 e ...

s 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 ...

Austrosiphonidae The Austrosiphonidae are a taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Austrosiphonidae Cotton & Godfrey, 1938. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespec ...

, the true whelks.

Distribution

''Antarctoneptunea'' marine snails occur in deep water surrounding

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 ...

and in Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica, particularly in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

. Dell R.K., Antarctic Mollusca with special reference to the fauna of the Ross Sea, The Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin 27.

Evolution

Molecular phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial genomic and nuclear

ribosomal DNA Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is a DNA sequence that codes for ribosomal RNA. These sequences regulate transcription initiation and amplification, and contain both transcribed and non-transcribed spacer segments. In the human genome there are 5 chromo ...

sequence data indicate that ''Antarctoneptunea'' is closely related to the Northern Hemisphere genus ''

Kelletia ''Kelletia'' is a genus of large sea snails, whelks, a marine gastropod molluscs in the family Austrosiphonidae, the true whelks.Bouchet, P.; Fraussen, K. (2015). Kelletia Bayle in P. Fischer, 1884. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: ...

'', and ''

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 ...

'' siphon whelks found in waters surrounding New Zealand and Australia. It has been suggested that some Antarctic fossil species of ''Penion'' are misclassified ''Antarctoneptunea''.

Species

Species within the genus ''Antarctoneptunea'' include: * '' Antarctoneptunea aurora'' (Hedley, 1916) * '' Antarctoneptunea benthicola'' (Dell, 1956) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Penion benthicolus delli'' Powell, 1971: synonym of '' Antarctoneptunea benthicola'' (Dell, 1956) Dell, R.K. 1995
New species and records of deep-water Mollusca from off New Zealand. ''Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa'', 2: 1 - 26.
/ref>

References

External links

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Taxon: ''Antarctoneptunea'' (Genus)
Austrosiphonidae Monotypic gastropod genera {{Buccinidae-stub