''Penion cuvierianus'' 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 ...

of very large

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

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 ...

or whelk, commonly called the flaring penion, 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 ...

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 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 ...

Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Description

''Penion cuvierianus'' is a very large species of siphon whelk. Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 Willan, R.C., de C. Cook, S., Spencer, H.G., Creese, R.G., O’Shea, S., Jackson, G.D. Phylum Mollusca. In: de C. Cook, S.C. (eds.), ''New Zealand Coastal Marine Invertebrates 1'', 406 – 407. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, New Zealand Shells vary between ivory and yellow in colouration. Recent genetic and geometric morphometric research using shell shape and size has demonstrated that a formerly recognised subspecies ''Penion cuvierianus jeakingsi'' is closely related to ''

Penion ormesi ''Penion ormesi'' is a species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks. Description ''Penion ormesi'' is a large to very large species of siphon whelk. Powell A. W. B., ' ...

'', instead of ''Penion curierianus'', and the taxon has been synonymised with ''P. ormesi''.

Distribution

''Penion cuvierianus'' is endemic to

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 taxonomic name is a reference to the type locality of

Cuvier Island Cuvier Island is a small uninhabited island off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the seaward end of the Colville Channel, north of the Mercury Islands and approximately south-east of Great Barrier Island. The island ...

. The species has an abundant fossil record in 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 ...

of New Zealand. The species occurs in the subtidal zone between depths of 20 and 200 metres.

Subspecies

These subspecies have been recognised: * ''Penion cuvierianus cuvierianus'' (

Powell Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...

, 1927)

Subspecies brought into synonymy

* ''Penion cuvierianus jeakingsi'' (

, 1947): synonym of ''

'' (

, 1927)

References

External links

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Taxon: ''Penion cuvierianus'' Powell, 1927 (Species)

Auckland War Memorial Museum ''Penion cuvierianus cuvierianus''

Massey University NZ Fauna Scanned 3D model of ''Penion cuvierianus''

Buccinidae Gastropods of New Zealand Gastropods described in 1927 Taxa named by Arthur William Baden Powell {{Buccinidae-stub