Aequispirella finlayi

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Aequispirella finlayi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Aequispirella
Species:
A. finlayi
Binomial name
Aequispirella finlayi
Synonyms [1]
  • Brookula finlayiPowell, 1933
  • Brookula (Aequispirella) finlayiPowell, 1933

Aequispirella finlayi is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the superfamily Seguenzioidea, currently unassigned to a family. [1] The species is endemic to New Zealand, found in the Chatham Islands and off the northern coast of the North Island.

Contents

Description

In the original description, Powell described the species as follows:

Shell minute, elevated-turbinate, thin, narrowly perforate, white, translucent, shining. Whorls 41⁄2, including a bluntly rounded but moderately elevated smooth globose protoconch of 11⁄4 whorls. Spire tall, 11⁄2 times height of aperture. Sculpture consisting of numerous narrow but prominent axial ribs with the interspaces four to six times the width of the ribs. These interspaces are crossed by less conspicuous sculpture of fine spiral threads. There are 21 axials on the penultimate and 27 on the body-whorl. The number of axials in corulum , averaged from four topotypes, is 28 for the penultimate and 32.5 for the body-whorl. The spirals number six on the early spire whorls and about ten on the penultimate. On the base the axials become weaker, finishing abruptly before reaching the umbilicus, and the spirals are more numerous and closely spaced, they, likewise, terminating just before reaching the umbilical cavity. Umbilicus narrow but deep. Aperture circular, peristome continuous, thin and sharp. [2]

The holotype of the species measures 1.3 mm (0.051 in) in height and 0.95 mm (0.037 in) in diameter. [2] The species has spiral threats that cross the whorls on the shell, with approximately 10 found on the penultimate whorl. Both the axials and spirals finish abruptly at the umbilicus. The umbilicus is narrow and deeply crescentic. [3] Powell noticed similarities between the species and Aequispirella corula , but can be differentiated due to A. finlayi has more narrowly conical apical whorls, as well as fewer axial ribs and a much wider body-whorl. [2] [3] The species has a taller spire than A. enderbyensis . [3]

Taxonomy

A. finlayi was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1933, using the name Brookula (Aequispirella) finlayi. [2] The holotype was collected from a depth of 18 m (59 ft) off the coast of Owenga in the Chatham Islands by Powell himself in February 1933. [4] [5] Aequispirella, while originally a subgenus of Brookula , has been treated as a genus since at least 2009, [6] after which the accepted name for the species became Aequispirella finlayi.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to New Zealand, found in the waters of the Chatham Islands, and off the coast of the northern North Island including Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands to the northwest, and some areas of the west coast including Boulder Bay on the Manukau Harbour. [7] [2] [8]

A. finyali is known to occur underneath rocks on shorelines, [9] as well as areas further off the coast. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Aequispirella finlayi (A. W. B. Powell, 1933) . 1 December 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. 1 2 3 Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 78. ISBN   0002169061.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ "Aequispirella finlayi". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  6. ↑ Kano, Yasunori; Chikyu, Eri; Warén, Anders (19 October 2009). "Morphological, ecological and molecular characterization of the enigmatic planispiral snail genus Adeuomphalus (Vetigastropoda: Seguenzioidea)". Journal of Molluscan Studies . 75 (4): 397–418. doi:10.1093/MOLLUS/EYP037. ISSN   0260-1230. Wikidata   Q56882528.
  7. ↑ Morley, Margaret S.; Hayward, Bruce W. (2016). "Biogeography and biodiversity of intertidal micromollusca of northern New Zealand". Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum . 51: 55–77. ISSN   1174-9202. JSTOR   90014743. Wikidata   Q104815046.
  8. ↑ Hayward, Bruce W.; Morley, Margaret S.; Blom, Wilma; Grenfell, Hugh R.; Smith, Nancy; Rogan, Doug; Stephenson, A. Brett (2002). "Marine biota of Raglan, Waikato West Coast". Poirieria. 28(b): 1–16. ISSN   0032-2377. Wikidata   Q115466507.
  9. ↑ Hayward, Bruce; Morley, Margaret (2004). "Intertidal Life Around the Coast of the Waitakere Ranges, Auckland" (PDF). Auckland Regional Council . Retrieved 17 November 2022.
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