''Aoteadrillia wanganuiensis'' is a species of

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 ...

mollusk in the family

Horaiclavidae Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012). Aoteadrillia wanganuiensis. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=599039 on 2012-06-29 It was formerly included within the family

Turridae Turridae is a taxonomic family name for a number of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Specie ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 9 mm, its diameter 3.9 mm. (Original description) The shell has a fusiform shape. The spire is produced, longer than the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

. The

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s are rounded, strongly spirally striated, and obliquely ribbed in the centre. The suture is very finely obliquely striated and with a spiral rib. The aperture is oval. The siphonal canal is short.(described as ''Pleurotoma wanganuiensis'') (Description by Henry Suter) The small, fairly solid, whitish shell has a fusiform shape. The suture strongly margined. The

s are angulated by a row of large nodules. The spire is high. The anal sinus is moderately deep. The sculpture consists of a row of large oval nodules on the middle of the whorls, about 14 on a whorl. Those on the last two whorls are somewhat stretched out towards the suture below and incised in the middle by a spiral linear groove. A very strong spiral cord margins the suture below, and a fine thread above. The latter is continued as a rather strong cord on the

, and is succeeded below by a similar cord. The base of the body whorl is adorned with fine spiral threads, close together upon the beak. The whole sculpture is crossed by very fine, strongly flexuous, and oblique growth lines. The spire is high, conic, somewhat less than twice the height of the aperture. The

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

consists of 2 whorls, which are microscopically spirally striate. The nucleus is oblique, rounded, the second volution shows a sharp median keel. The shell contains 7 whorls, regularly increasing, roundly angled at the middle by the nodules, concave above and below it. The body whorl is slightly convex, contracted at the base. The suture is linear and bimarginate. The aperture is oblique, oval, angled above, produced below into an oblique short and open

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

, slightly notched at its base. The outer lip is sharp, somewhat strengthened on the outside, moderately convex, contracted below, with a fairly deep and rounded sinus in the depression above the row of nodules. The columella is slightly arcuate, excavated on meeting the parietal wall. The inner lip is thin and narrow, drawn out to a point towards the margin of the siphonal canal. The operculum is unknown. Suter H. (1913-1915), Manual of New Zealand Mollusca; Wellington, N. Z. :J. Mackay, govt. printer,1913-1915
(described as ''Drillia chordata'' )

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to New Zealand and occurs off Ninety Mile Beach, North Island. Fossils have been found in Pliocene strata in New Zealand.

References

* Powell, Arthur William Baden. ''The New Zealand Recent and Fossil Mollusca of the Family Turridae: With General Notes on Turrid Nomenclature and Systematics. No. 2''. Unity Press limited, printers, 1942.

External links

Spencer H.G., Willan R.C., Marshall B.A. & Murray T.J. (2011) ''Checklist of the Recent Mollusca Recorded from the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone''

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoteadrillia Wanganuiensis wanganuiensis Gastropods of New Zealand Pliocene gastropods Pleistocene gastropods Gastropods described in 1873