Buccinulum wairarapaense
| Buccinulum wairarapaense Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Family: | Tudiclidae |
| Genus: | Buccinulum |
| Species: | †B. wairarapaense
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Buccinulum wairarapaense A. W. B. Powell, 1938
| |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
| |
Buccinulum wairarapaense is an extinct species of marine mollusc gastropod in the family Tudiclidae.[1] Fossils of the species date to the Pleistocene in New Zealand, and the species likely lived in deep waters.
Description
In the original description, Powell described the species as follows:
Shell of moderate size, solid, prominently spirally ridged and axially costate. Number of whorls probably five (apex eroded). Spire a little taller than height of aperture plus canal. Outline of spire convex, but with a concave shoulder occupying the upper third of the whorls. Spiral sculpture of six rounded cords on spire whorls, two of which are on the shoulder; each with an interstitial thread. Thirteen spirals on the body whorl, becoming stronger over the base, the interstial thread being augmented by still finer spiral lirae. Fasciole rounded, devoid of spiral ribbing and not marked off from the base by a ridge. Axials regular, fold-like, not extending over the base; twelve on the penultimate whorl. Outer lip broken. Inner lip with a weak denticle on the parietal callus near to the posterior notch. Aperture spirally lirate within.[3]
The holotype of the species has an estimated height of 19 mm (0.75 in) and a diameter of 9 mm (0.35 in).[3] It can be differentiated from B. colensoi due to its stronger axial sculpture, spiral sculpture and concave shoulder,[4] and from B. pertinax finlayi due to its more prominent sculpture.[5]
Ecology
The species likely lived on the outer shelf or deep waters.[5]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1938, who used the name Buccinulum (Euthrena) wairarapaensis.[3] While Buccinulum wairarapaensis has been used as the accepted name in New Zealand texts,[2] the World Register of Marine Species uses the spelling Buccinulum wairarapaense.[1] Closely related to B. colensoi, Winston Ponder considered two possibilities for the species: that it represents a population separate from B. colensoi that lived on the east coast of the North Island and eastern Cook Strait that became extinct, or that B. colensoi is a hybrid species produced by the interbreeding of B. wairarapaense with B. vittatum.[4]
The holotype was collected in either 1924 or 1927 by A. W. B. Powell, from lighthouse reef, Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[6][7]
Distribution
This extinct marine species occurs in Pleistocene (Nukumaruan stage) of New Zealand, dating to 2.40 million years before the present,[2] including the Castlepoint Formation[6] and the Haumuri Bluff of the southern Kaikōura District.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Buccinulum wairarapaense A. W. B. Powell, 1938 †. 5 March 2026. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
- ^ a b c Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". In Gordon, D.P. (ed.). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.
- ^ a b c Powell, A. W. B. (1938). "A Pliocene Molluscan Faunule from Castle Point". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 2: 157–164. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905977. Wikidata Q58676603. This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.
- ^ a b c Ponder, W. F. (December 1971). "A review of the New Zealand recent and fossil species of Buccinulum deshayes (Mollusca: Neogastropoda: Buccinidae)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 1 (3–4): 231-283. doi:10.1080/03036758.1971.10423314.
- ^ a b Buckeridge, John S.; Beu, Alan G.; Gordon, Dennis P. (19 September 2018). "Depositional environment of the early Pleistocene Castlepoint Formation, New Zealand: a canyon fill in situ". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 61 (4): 524–542. doi:10.1080/00288306.2018.1516227. ISSN 0028-8306. Wikidata Q129215981.
- ^ a b Blom, Wilma M. (2025). "Annotated Catalogue of Fossil and Extant Molluscan Types in the Auckland War Memorial Museum". Bulletin of the Auckland Museum. 22. doi:10.32912/BULLETIN/22. ISSN 1176-3213. OCLC 1550165130. Wikidata Q135397912.
- ^ "Buccinulum (Euthrena) wairarapaensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 5 March 2026.