''Veprecula cooperi'' 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

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 ...

Raphitomidae Raphitomidae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.) (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". ''Malacologia'' 47(1-2). . 39 ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 2 mm. (Original description) The small, fragile, fusiform shell is slender and prickly. 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 ...

is pagodiform. The shell contains five

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, plus a three-whorled embryonic

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 ...

, which is finely longitudinally ribbed. The whorls are convex, contracting rapidly. The

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

shows four sharp raised spiral ribs, crossed by about twelve equally sharp raised axial ribs, which disappear below the fourth spiral, and are interrupted above by the broad anal fasciole. The intersection of the ribs is marked by a sharp prickle. Between the raised ribs are deep oblong pits, the surface of which is smooth and dull. The anal fasciole is crossed by fine crescentic growth-lines, and bordered on its outer edge by a narrow double thread. The anal slit nearly 1 mm. in length. The suture is distinct, serrated by the lowest spiral. Coming from inside the vertical columella and covering the base and the

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

are about twelve fine equidistant spiral threads. The siphonal anal is short, open, very slightly recurved. The outer lip is thin and sharp. In the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

it is slightly thickened by the last axial rib . The inner surface is deeply grooved by the spirals, and less so by the axials. The colour is uniform light biscuit-brown. The operculum is unknown. The animal is unknown. Mestayer M.K. (1919). New species of Mollusca from various dredgings taken off the coast of New Zealand, the Snares Islands, and the Bounty Islands. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 51: 130-135, pl. 8
/ref>

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 and occurs off Off

Three Kings Islands 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

, Northland to Bay of Plenty, North Island,

References

* Powell, A.W.B. 1979 New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells, Collins, Auckland * 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
*
Gastropods.com: ''Veprecula cooperi''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veprecula Cooperi cooperi Gastropods described in 1919 Gastropods of New Zealand