''Maorimorpha suteri'' 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 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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Mitromorphidae Mitromorphidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Mitromorphidae Casey, 1904. In: MolluscaBase (2018). Accessed through: World Register of Marin ...

.WoRMS (2009). Maorimorpha suteri (Murdoch, 1905). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=434374 on 2018-02-08

Description

The length of the shell attains 4.6 mm, its diameter 1.7 mm. (Original description) The small shell is fusiform, somewhat thin, with fine spiral and usually somewhat obsolete longitudinal riblets. Its colour is light reddish-brown, sometimes a pale band around the periphery and occasionally a narrow darker band at the sutures. Its 5

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 lightly rounded, the last longer than the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. 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 two whorls, somewhat globose, smooth and polished. The apical whorl is oblique to the succeeding whorl. Sculpture : The penultimate whorl shows six to seven and 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 ...

sixteen to twenty spiral riblets, seven or eight of which are in front of the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

. They are slightly variable in strength, some in breadth equal to the interspaces, others rather narrower. Also an occasional small thread here and there arises in the interspaces. The longitudinal ribs are irregular, low and rounded, more distinct on the spire, and frequently obsolete. The growth striae are irregular, somewhat marked, and frequently cutting up the spirals into minute gemmules. The sutures are impressed, usually margined with a wider riblet. The aperture is somewhat narrow, rather longer than the spire. The outer lip is thin and a little flattened. The posterior sinus is broad and well marked. The columella is almost straight, concave and lightly callused. The siphonal canal is short and broad. Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 37 (1904)

Distribution

This marine 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 occurs off

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

and

Foveaux Strait The Foveaux Strait, (, or , ) separates Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at Ruapuk ...

References

* Powell, Arthur William Baden. "The New Zealand recent and fossil Mollusca of the family Turridae with general notes on Turrid nomenclature and systematics." (1942). * Powell, A.W.B. 1979: ''New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells'', Collins, Auckland (p. 237) * Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). ''Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca.'' pp. 196–219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch

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
*
New Zealand Mollusca: ''Maorimorpha suteri''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maorimorpha Suteri suteri Gastropods described in 1905 Gastropods of New Zealand