Heterocithara granolirata

Heterocithara granolirata Temporal range: middle Miocene 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:	Mangeliidae
Genus:	Heterocithara
Species:	†H. granolirata
Binomial name
†Heterocithara granolirata (A. W. B. Powell, 1944)
Synonyms [1]
† Etrema granolirataA. W. B. Powell, 1944 (original combination)

Heterocithara granolirata is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Mangeliidae. ^[1] Fossils of the species date to the middle Miocene, 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:

Small, narrowly fusiform, with medial, sharply angulate periphery. Sculptured with strong, narrowly rounded axials, narrow, sharply raised spirals, the latter undulating over the axials, and dense interstitial granular lirations. Protoconch small, globular, of two smooth whorls, the second subangulate. Spire-whorls with 7 lirations on the shoulder, 3-4 spiral cords from peripheral angle to lower suture, the peripheral cord being much the strongest. Body-whorl with about 19 primary cords. Granular lirations 2-4 per interspace. Axials strong, undiminished over shoulder and extending half way across base, 13 per whorl. Labial varix heavily rounded. Sinus broad and shallow. Very slight parietal callus pad. No apertural lirations. ^[2]

The holotype of the species measures 6.2 mm (0.24 in) in height and 2.75 mm (0.108 in) in diameter. ^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1944, using the name Etrema granolirata. ^[2] It was moved to the genus Heterocithara in 1988. ^[3] The holotype was collected from Balcombe Bay, Mornington, ^[4] Victoria at an unknown date prior to 1944, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[5] [6]}

Distribution

This extinct marine species dates to the middle Miocene, and occurs in the strata of the Port Phillip Basin of Victoria, Australia, from the Gellibrand Formation. ^{[5] [7]}

References

1. Heterocithara granolirata (A. W. B. Powell, 1944) † . 18 November 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. Maxwell, Phillip A. (1988). "Late Miocene deep-water mollusca from the stillwater mudstone at Greymouth, Westland, New Zealand: palaeoecology and systematics". Paleontological Bulletin. 55: 77.
4. Darragh, Thomas A. (1970). "Catalogue of Australian Tertiary Mollusca (except chitons)" (PDF). Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria. 31: 172. doi:10.24199/J.MMV.1970.31.14. ISSN   0083-5986. Wikidata   Q56194898.
5. 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.
6. "Heterocithara granolirata". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 17 November 2025.
7. 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.

External links

• Tucker, J.K. 2004 Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Zootaxa 682:1–1295.