Lissotestella

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Lissotestella
Temporal range: Eocene–Recent
Lissotestella tryphenensis (Powell, 1931) (AM MA72084-1).jpg
Holotype of Lissotestella tryphenensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Lissotestella
Powell, 1946
Type species
Lissotestella tenuilirata
A. W. B. Powell, 1931

Lissotestella is a genus of minute sea snails or micromolluscs, marine gastropod molluscs, unassigned in the superfamily Seguenzioidea. [1] First described by A. W. B. Powell in 1946, the genus is endemic to the waters surrounding New Zealand.

Contents

Description

Holotype of Lissotestella consobrina Lissotestella consobrina (Powell, 1940) (AM MA72083-1).jpg
Holotype of Lissotestella consobrina
Holotype of Lissotestella cookiana Lissotestella cookiana MA I040524.jpg
Holotype of Lissotestella cookiana

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

This new genus resembles Lissotesta in shape, but it is of more solid texture. The surface, instead of being polished, is dull and regularly spirally lirate. In Lissotesta the peristome is thin and not continuous. That of the new genus is continued across the parietal wall, and is strengthened on the outside by a broad low varix. Inside the aperture there is a slight rim or ledge which suggests the presence of a stout operculum—possibly a calcareous one, and, if this should prove to be the case, removal of the genus to the vicinity of Argolista may be necessary. The protoconch is of one whorl and is larger and more globose than in Lissotesta. [2]

The genus' protoconch is bluntly rounded, having approximately 1.5 smooth whorls, and typically has a slight ledge within its peristome, and a rounded variciform swelling found behind the outer lip. [3] Members of the genus are turbiniform and narrowly umbilicate. [4] The protoconch is large, swollen, dome-shaped, [5] with a sculpture of fine anastomosing ridges. [4] The genus has convex teleoconch whorls that are sculptured with either spiral cords or lirae. [4] Members of the genus have heights that vary between 0.85–2.2 mm (0.033–0.087 in). [4]

The genus can be differentiated from Lissotesta due to Lissotestella having stronger umbilicus spirals, and the presence of a varix on the outer lip. [4]

Taxonomy

Lissotestella was first described by Baden Powell in 1946, naming Lissotestella tenuilirata as the type species. [2] The genus was previously placed in the family Skeneidae, [6] and in 2002, in the former taxonomic order Archaeogastropoda by Jack Sepkoski. [7] In 2009, the genus was placed within the superfamily Seguenzioidea as a "plausible member" of the group, [8] with the genus remaining unassigned within the superfamily. [1] Holotypes of two species of Lissotestella are held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum, two by the Canterbury Museum, one by the Natural History Museum, London, [9] and one by Te Papa. [10]

Distribution

Lissotestella is endemic to New Zealand, [11] with fossils dating back likely to the Kaiatan stage of the Eocene. [4] [7] While L. tenuilirata has a wide distribution across New Zealand waters, including the Auckland Islands, and Chatham Islands, [12] many members are only known to occur in restricted ranges, including L. caelata near Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, [13] L. cookiana in the Cook Strait, [14] L. tryphenensis near Great Barrier Island, [15] [16] and L. rissoaformis in the Auckland Islands. [17]

Species

Species within the genus Lissotestella include: [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lissotestella A. W. B. Powell, 1946 . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 3 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 Powell, A. W. B. (1946). "New Species of New Zealand Mollusca from the South Island, Stewart Island, and Chatham Islands". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 3: 137–144. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42905999. Wikidata   Q58676636.
  3. ↑ Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 75-76. ISBN   0002169061.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Beu, A.G.; Raine, J.I. (2009). "Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990)". GNS Science miscellaneous series. 27.
  5. ↑ Warén, Anders (1991). "New and Little Known Skeneimorph Gastropods from the Mediterranean Sea and the Adjacent Atlantic Ocean". Bollettino malacologico. 27: 170.
  6. ↑ Spencer, H. G.; Willan, R. C. (1995). "The marine fauna of New Zealand: Index to the fauna. 3. Mollusca" (PDF). New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Memoir. 105: 1–125. ISSN   0083-7903. Wikidata   Q66411987.
  7. 1 2 Sepkoski, Jr., J. John (16 September 2002). "A Compendium of Fossil Marine Animal Genera". Bulletins of American Peleontology. 363: 86.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ "marine snail, Lissotestella cookiana Dell, 1956". Te Papa . Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "Lissotestella". Biota of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "Lissotestella tenuilirata (Powell, 1931)". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Lissotestella caelata (Powell, 1937)". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "Lissotestella cookiana Dell, 1956". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  15. ↑ "Lissotestella tryphenensis (Powell, 1931)". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  16. ↑ Morley, Margaret S.; Hayward, Bruce W. (2009). "Marine Mollusca of Great Barrier Island, New Zealand". Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum . 46: 15–51. ISSN   1174-9202. JSTOR   42905906. Wikidata   Q58623368.
  17. ↑ "Lissotestella rissoaformis (Powell, 1931)". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 3 November 2025.

Further reading

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