Pupatonia gracilispira

Pupatonia gracilispira is a species of marine gastropod mollusc in the family Eatoniellidae.[1] First described by Baden Powell in 1933 as Estea gracilispira, it is endemic to the waters of New Zealand.

Pupatonia gracilispira
Holotype of Pupatonia gracilispira from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Eatoniellidae
Genus: Pupatonia
Species:
P. gracilispira
Binomial name
Pupatonia gracilispira
(Powell, 1933)
Synonyms[1]
  • Estea gracilispira Powell, 1933

Description

Powell described the species as follows:

Shell minute, elongate-oval, semi-transparent, white, polished, thin and fragile. Whorls 4½, including low dome-shaped smooth protoconch, which is not clearly marked off from the post-nuclear whorls. Apart from very faint obliquely retractive growth striae there is no sculpture, the surface of all whorls being smooth and glossy. The suture is false-margined by the base of the preceding whorl showing through. Spire tali, 1½ times height of aperture. Aperture almost circular. Peristome continuous, dilated slightly over the basal and columellar portions and adnate across parietal wall as a distinct connecting callus. In profile the outer lip is straight with the axis of the whorls. There is no true umbilical chink, but there is a slight cavity owing to the overhanging nature of the columellar lip.[2]

Pupatonia gracilispira measures 1.1mm, by 0.525mm.[3] The species is similar in appearance to Pupatonia mimitula, but differs by having a narrower spire, and by having a smooth and polished texture.[4]

Distribution

The species is endemic to New Zealand.[1] The holotype and four paratypes were collected by either Powell himself or by C. A. Fleming in February 1933, from a depth of 18 metres off Owenga Beach in the Chatham Islands.[5] The species has almost exclusively been identified in the Chatham Islands,[6] however has also been identified at Waipapa Point in the south of the South Island,[7] and the Auckland Islands.[8]

References
  1. Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2022). "Pupatonia gracilispira Powell, 1933". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. Powell, A. W. B. (1933). "The Marine Mollusca of the Chatham Islands". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 1: 181–208. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905950. Wikidata Q58676558.
  3. "Pupatonia gracilispira". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. Ponder, W. F. (1965). "The Family Eatoniellidae in New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 6: 47–99. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42906115. Wikidata Q58676802.
  5. Blom, Wilma (2022). "Fossil and Recent molluscan types in the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Part 4: Gastropoda (Caenogastropoda – Neocyclotidae to Epitoniidae). [Cyclophoroidea, Cerithioidea, Littorinimorpha]". Records of the Auckland Museum. 56 (55): 39–62. doi:10.32912/ram.2020.55.7. ISSN 2422-8567. S2CID 229670783. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. Dell, RK (1960). "Biological Results of the Chatham Islands 1954 Expedition Part 4: Marine Mollusca" (PDF). New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin. 139 (4). ISSN 2538-1016. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  7. "Pupatonia gracilispira (Powell, 1933)". Te Papa. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  8. "Pupatonia gracilispira (Powell, 1933)". Te Papa. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
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