Comitas pseudoclarae

Comitas pseudoclarae Temporal range: late Oligocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Pseudomelatomidae
Genus:	Comitas
Species:	†C. pseudoclarae
Binomial name
†Comitas pseudoclarae Powell, 1944

Comitas pseudoclarae is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pseudomelatomidae. ^{[1] [2]} Fossils of the species date to the late Oligocene, and occurs in the strata of the Port Phillip Basin of Victoria, Australia.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

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

Shell almost inseparable, in its adult facies, from C. (Carinacomitas) clarae , but with the typical two-whorled, smooth papillate protoconch of true Comitas. The only adult feature that readily separates pseudo-clarae from clarae is the more rapidly contracted base, and resultant longer anterior canal.
Whorls sculptured with numerous narrow spiral cords, and dense weak lirations on the shoulder, as well as distant, low, broadly rounded axials, 6-7 per whorl, which rapidly become obsolete both on the shoulder and on the base. Spire-whorls with 10-12 lirae on the shoulder and 4-5 primary cords, with intermediates, from the peripheral angle to the lower suture. About 40 spirals on body-whorl from angle to anterior end. Spirals relatively strong both near the angle and at the anterior end. ^[3]

The holotype of the species measures 14 mm (0.55 in) in height and 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter. ^[3] It can be distinguished from other Australian fossil Comitas species due to the number of axial ribs, protoconch details and relative size. ^[4]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1944. ^[3] The holotype was collected from Torquay, Victoria, ^{[5] : 261} at an unknown date prior to 1944, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[6] [7]}

Distribution

This extinct marine species dates to the late Oligocene, and occurs in the strata of the Port Phillip Basin of Victoria, Australia, from the Jan Juc Formation. ^{[6] [8]}

References

1. Comitas pseudoclarae A. W. B. Powell, 1944 † . 17 November 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. "WMSD - Worldwide mollusc species DB - Comitas pseudoclarae". bagniliggia.it. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
3. 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.
4. Long, D. C. (1981). "Late Eocene and Early Oligocene Turridae (Gastropoda: Prosobranchiata) of the Brown's Creek and Glen Aire Clays, Victoria, Australia" (PDF). Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria. 42 (1): 15–55. doi:10.24199/J.MMV.1981.42.03. ISSN   0083-5986. Wikidata   Q56195002.
5. Powell, A. W. B. (9 September 1969). "The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Part 2. The subfamily Turriculinae". Indo-Pacific mollusca. 2 (10): 215–416. ISSN   0073-7240. Wikidata   Q136806872.
6. 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.
7. "Comitas pseudoclarae". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 17 November 2025.
8. 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.