''Crassitoniella carinata'' 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 ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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

Eatoniellidae Eatoniellidae, commonly known as eatoniellids, are a taxonomic family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cingulopsoidea The Cingulopsoidea is a superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the cl ...

. It was first described by

Winston Ponder Winston Frank Ponder (born 1941) is a noted malacologist born and educated in New Zealand who has named and described many marine and freshwater animals, especially micromolluscs. Education and career Ponder graduated with an MSc, PhD (1968) ...

in 1965, and it is the type species for the genus ''Crassitoniella''. It is endemic to the waters of New Zealand.

Description

''Crassitoniella carinata'' has a distinctive orange-red coloured shell, with a wide protoconch. The living animal has white long tentacles, with large eyes. The species measures 1.91millimetres by 1.3 millimetres. The species' shell is similar to the Australian species ''

Crassitoniella flammea ''Crassitoniella'' is a genus of taxonomic family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Eatoniellidae. All currently identified species in the family are endemic to the waters of Australia and New Zealand. The type specime ...

'', but differs by having a uniform colour and distinct peripheral cord.

Distribution

The species is

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

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 ...

. The holotype was collected from shell sand found at Piwhane / Spirits Bay in the

Northland Region The Northland Region ( mi, Te Tai Tokerau) is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout the year. The main population ...

. The species was first documented on the east coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

as far south as the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

, in 1995 a specimen was first identified on the west coast of the North Island. Additional specimens have ben found in the waters near

Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands The Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands (sometimes just known collectively by the Māori name for the largest island, Manawatāwhi) are a group of 13 uninhabited islands about northwest of Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, New Zealand, where th ...

Description

Distribution

References

Further reading