Pelicaria vermis, known as the small ostrich foot shell, or as in Māori, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Struthiolariidae.Bouchet, P. (2011). Pelicaria vermis (Martyn, 1784). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=564560 on 2011-03-11 It is the only extant species in the genus.
Distribution and habitat This species is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand, where it lives just beneath the surface on tidal flats and off sandy beaches, occasionally to depths of 90m.
Description The shell height is up to 54 mm, and width up to 35 mm, colouring usually yellow brown, rarely plain yellow or purple.Andrew Crowe, Simple Guide to the Identification of New Zealand Sea Shells, Penguin 1999
References
Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp Marwick, J. (1924). The Struthiolariidae. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 55: 161–190. Vella, P. (1953). The genus Pelicaria in the Tertiary of east Wairarapa. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 81: 35–48. Neef, G. (1970). Notes on the subgenus Pelicaria. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 13: 436–476. Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers, Auckland, New Zealand 1979
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 Sowerby, G. B., I. (1821-1834). The genera of recent and fossil shells, for the use of students, in conchology and geology. Published in 42 numbers. Vol. 1, Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp