''Maurea punctulata'' 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Calliostomatidae Calliostomatidae is a family of sea snails within the superfamily Trochoidea and the clade Vetigastropoda.Gofas, S. (2013). Calliostomatidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetail ...

within the superfamily Trochoidea, the top snails, turban snails and their allies.MolluscaBase (2018). ''Maurea punctulata'' (Martyn, 1784). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=881011 on 2018-12-28

Description

The length of the shell attains 41.7 mm. Its fossil range is from the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

. Maurea is a predator on

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

prey.

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 ...

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 ...

References

* Oliver, W. R. B. (1926). New Zealand Species of Calliostoma. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 17: 107–115. * Marshall, B.A., 1995. A Revision of the Recent Calliostoma Species of New Zealand (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochoidea). The Nautilus 108(4): 83-127

External links

Martyn T. (1784-1787). The universal conchologist, exhibiting the figure of every known shells. London, published by the author. 4 vols. 40 pp., 80 pls.

Gmelin J.F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae

Noodt, J. (1819). Museum Boltenianum: Verzeichnis der von dem gestorbenen J. F. Bolten... hinterlassenen vortrefflichen Sammlung Conchylien, Mineralien und Kunstsachen die am 26. April d.J., Morgens um 10 Uhr öffentlich verkauft werden sollen durch den Makler J. Noodt. Conrad Müller, Hamburg, pp. vi + 156, 4 pls

* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54753345 Valenciennes A. (1846). Atlas de Zoologie. Mollusques. In: A. du Petit-Thouars, Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate la Venus pendant les années 1836–1839. 4 vols. ] Calliostomatidae Gastropods described in 1784 {{Calliostomatidae-stub