''Eatoniella fossa'' 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 F. Ponder in 1965. It is endemic to the waters of New Zealand.

Description

''Eatoniella fossa'' has a solid, smooth shell, with a groove between the inner lip and the molluscs body whorl. The shells' colour varied between brownish-yellow to white, with an occasional dark band. The holotype of the species measured 1.9mm by 1.2mm. This species is easily distinguished by the channel between the aperture and the body whorl of the mollusc.

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 ...

to New Zealand. The holotype and five paratypes of the species was collected from reasonably deep water in the Whangaroa Harbour, Northland, to the west of Stephenson Island. In addition to the east coast of the

Northland Peninsula The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā H ...

, ''Eatoniella fossa'' has been identified 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 ...

, the Hen and Chicken Islands, and the Bay of Plenty, as far east as Hicks Bay.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6783392 Eatoniellidae Gastropods described in 1965 Gastropods of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Taxa named by Winston Ponder