Anacithara janjukiensis

Anacithara janjukiensis Temporal range: Early Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype of Anacithara janjukiensis from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Horaiclavidae
Genus:	Anacithara
Species:	†A. janjukiensis
Binomial name
†Anacithara janjukiensis Powell, 1944

Anacithara janjukiensis is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Horaiclavidae. ^[1] Fossils of the species date to the Early Miocene, and have been found in strata of the Bass Basin of Tasmania.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

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

Ovate-fusiform, with tall spire, robust. Whorls convex, slightly shouldered at two-thirds whorl height. Sculptured with broad, heavy, fold-like axials extending from upper suture over the base to the neck, 10 per whorl; crossed by dense regular lirations, about 25 on the penultimate. Outer lip thin at the edge, but heavily variced behind. Sinus shallow, arcuate, occupying the shoulder. There are no apertural processes. ^[2]

The holotype of the species measures 8 mm (0.31 in) in height and 3.5 mm (0.14 in) in diameter. ^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1944. ^{[2] [1]} The holotype was collected from Table Cape, Tasmania, at an unknown date earlier than 1944, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[3] [4]}

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in early Miocene (Longfordian) strata of the Bass Basin, including the Freestone Cove Sandstone Formation and the Fossil Bluff Sandstone near Wynyard, Tasmania. ^{[3] [5]}

References

1. Anacithara janjukiensis A.W.B. Powell, 1942 . 3 July 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. Powell, A. W. B. (1944). "The Australian Tertiary Mollusca of the Family Turridae". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 3: 3–68. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42905993. Wikidata   Q58676624.
3. 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. Wikidata   Q135397912.
4. "Anacithara janjukiensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 10 November 2025.
5. Darragh, Thomas A. (August 2024). "A checklist of Australian marine Cenozoic Mollusca". Memoirs of Museum Victoria . 83: 37–206. doi:10.24199/J.MMV.2024.83.02. ISSN   1447-2546. Wikidata   Q136396722.

Further reading

• Maxwell, P.A. (2009). Cenozoic Mollusca. pp. 232–254 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.