Maoritomella is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Borsoniidae.
Description
Shells of Maoritomella are tall-spired and have a truncated body-whorl, with a paucispiral protoconch, a globular of two smooth whorls, that is followed by a half whorl of brephic axials. The small shell seldom exceeds and has usually a fusiform-biconical shape. The axial riblets in the bluntly domed protoconch are absent or restricted to the terminal half-whorl. The sculpture consists of strong spiral lirae or cords with fine collabral threads crossing spiral lirae. It often contains a peripheral keel but never a conspicuous shoulder angle. The siphonal canal is not or feebly indented. There is an anal sinus on the shoulder slope. An operculum is present. The marginal teeth of the radula are rather short, straight and awl-likeR.N. Kilburn, Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 3. Subfamily Borsoniinae; Annals of the Natal Museum, 1986
Taxonomy
The genus was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1942, due to the difficulty of placing Pleurotoma albula (now Maoritomella albula) in an appropriate genus.
Distribution This marine genus occurs off Indonesia, South Africa, Zanzibar,, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Australia (New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia).
Species Species within the genus Maoritomella include:
Maoritomella albula (Hutton, 1873) † Maoritomella balcombensis A. W. B. Powell, 1944 Maoritomella clupeispina Kilburn, 1986 Maoritomella densecostulata Kilburn, 1986 † Maoritomella equispiralis A. W. B. Powell, 1944 Maoritomella eva (Thiele, 1925) Maoritomella foliacea Laseron, 1954 Maoritomella granilirata Kilburn, 1986 Maoritomella ischna (Watson, 1881) Maoritomella leptopleura Kilburn, 1986 Maoritomella megalacme Kilburn, 1986 † Maoritomella moderata (Marwick, 1965) Maoritomella multiplex (Webster, 1906) † Maoritomella nutans A. W. B. Powell, 1944 Maoritomella orientalis Dell, 1956 † Maoritomella pagodula Powell, 1942 Maoritomella pleonastica (Barnard, 1958) † Maoritomella robusta Powell, 1942 † Maoritomella studiosorum (L. C. King, 1933) † Maoritomella subalbula (R. Murdoch, 1900) Maoritomella tarrhion Kilburn, 1986 † Maoritomella torquatella (Marwick, 1931)
Species brought into synonymy
† Maoritomella annosa A. W. B. Powell, 1942: synonym of Drilliola annosa (A. W. B. Powell, 1942) Maoritomella batjanensis (Schepman, 1913): synonym of Otitoma batjanensis (Schepman, 1913) † Maoritomella pukeuriensis A. W. B. Powell, 1942: synonym of Drilliola pukeuriensis (A. W. B. Powell, 1942) † Maoritomella sola A. W. B. Powell, 1942: synonym of Drilliola sola (A. W. B. Powell, 1942) Maoritomella thola Laseron, 1954: synonym of Tomopleura thola (Laseron, 1954)
References
Further reading Laseron, C. 1954. Revision of the New South Wales Turridae (Mollusca). Australian Zoological Handbook. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 1-56, pls 1-12.
External links