''Ividella maoria'' is a species of

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 Pyramidellidae. It was first described by

Baden Powell Baden-Powell () is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Baden-Powell * The Rev. Prof. Baden Powell (mathematician) (1796–1860), mathematician, clergyman and liberal theologian. By his first marriage father of: :* Baden Henry Powell ...

in 1940. It is endemic to the waters of New Zealand. The mollusc was the first of its species to be identified in New Zealand, and as of 2022 remains the only endemic ''Ividella'' species in the country.

Description

''Ividella maoria'' has a small shell with a typical protoconch, and typically measures 3 millimetres in height and between one and three in diameter. The species looks very similar to the type species of the genus, '' Ividella navisa'', but can be distinguished from its eastern Pacific counterpart by the presence of a narrow umbilical cleft.

Distribution

The species is endemic to New Zealand. The first specimens were identified between

Piwhane / Spirits Bay Spirits Bay, officially named Piwhane / Spirits Bay, is a remote bay at the northern end of the Aupouri Peninsula, which forms the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island. It lies between Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua in the west and Ngataea ...

and

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 ...

. Additional specimens have been found in the waters near

Cape Maria van Diemen Cape Maria van Diemen is the westernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand. A tombolo, it was originally an island composed mainly of basaltic-andesitic lava flows and dykes. Drifting sands joined it to the rest of the North Island during ...

and the Poor Knights Islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q49608900 Pyramidellidae Gastropods described in 1940 Gastropods of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Taxa named by Arthur William Baden Powell