Crassitoniella

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Crassitoniella
Crassitoniella carinata (AM MA71264).jpg
Holotype of Crassitoniella carinata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Eatoniellidae
Genus: Crassitoniella
Ponder, 1965
Type species
Crassitoniella carinata Ponder, 1965

Crassitoniella is a genus of taxonomic family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs belonging to the family Eatoniellidae. [1] First described by Winston Ponder in 1965, the genus is found in the waters of the South Pacific near Australia and New Zealand. Fossils of the species have been found on the coast of France.

Contents

Description

In the original description, Ponder described the genus as below:

Shell: Solid, ovate-conical, peristome thick and heavy. Sculpture absent or a weak, single, peripheral cord. Colour orange, sometimes with white markings.

Animal: Similar to that of Eatoniella , but no opercular tentacles.
Operculum: Broad, with strong internal ridge. Muscle insertion area not differentiated, transparent. Columella margin strongly convex.

Radula: [Moderately long, the teeth small. Central very large, lateral cusps small, 1 + 1 + 1, a pair of lateral thickenings, and 3 pairs of basal processes, Lateral small, slightly curved, cusps 1 + 1 + 1, Inner marginal slightly larger than lateral, simple except for blunt process on inner side. Outer marginal small, with 3 denticles, the apex curved.]. [2]

Members of the genus have minute shells and a straight peg that is in approximately same plane as rest of the species' operculum, [3] and are smooth except for their single peripheral cord. [4] Crassitoniella can be identified due to their unique opercular and radular features. [3]

Taxonomy

Crassitoniella was first described by Winston Ponder in 1965, naming Crassitoniella carinata as the type species. [2] Phylogenetic analysis places Crassitoniella within the Cingulopsoidea superfamily, being closely related to Eatoniella , and more distantly to Skenella , Eatonina and Eatoniella . [5]

Distribution

Crassitoniella is found in the waters of the South Pacific, on the shores of southeastern Australia, New Zealand. [3] Fossils of the Chattian fossil species C. europaea have been found near Saint-Paul-lès-Dax in southwestern France. [6] [7]

Habitat

Members of the genus are often found between the lower littoral zone and sublittoral zone. Both C. carinata and C. flammea are known to live on algae. [2] [3]

Species

Species within the genus Crassitoniella include: [1]

Synonyms

References

  1. 1 2 Crassitoniella Ponder, 1965 . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 30 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Ponder, W. F. (1965). "The Family Eatoniellidae in New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 6: 47–99. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42906115. Wikidata   Q58676802.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ponder, Winston F.; Yoo, E. K. (1978). "A revision of the Eatoniellidae of Australia (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Littorinacea)". Records of the Australian Museum. 31 (15): 606–658. doi:10.3853/J.0067-1975.31.1978.206. ISSN   0067-1975. Wikidata   Q92172879.
  4. ↑ Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 93-94. ISBN   0002169061.
  5. ↑ Criscione, Francesco; Ponder, Winston Frank (March 2013). "A phylogenetic analysis of rissooidean and cingulopsoidean families (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 66 (3): 1075–1082. doi:10.1016/J.YMPEV.2012.11.026. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   23238494. Wikidata   Q29300784.
  6. ↑ Lozouet, Pierre (1998). "Nouvelles espèces de gastéropodes (Mollusca: Gastropoda) de l'Oligocène et du Miocène inférieur d'Aquitaine (sud-ouest de la France)". Cossmanniana (in French). 5 (3–4): 70–71.
  7. ↑ "Crassitoniella Ponder, 1965". Global Biodiversity Information Facility . Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  8. ↑ MNHN, Paris: Crassitoniella cirsophora

Further reading

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