Mauidrillia torquayensis

Mauidrillia torquayensis Temporal range: late Oligocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Horaiclavidae
Genus:	Mauidrillia
Species:	†M. torquayensis
Binomial name
†Mauidrillia torquayensis A. W. B. Powell, 1944

Mauidrillia torquayensis is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Horaiclavidae. ^[1] Fossils of the species date to the late Oligocene strata of the Port Phillip Basin of Victoria, Australia.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

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

Species superficially similar to aldingensis , but more likely derived from pullulascens , from which it differs in being broader, with a stronger, more persistent peripheral angulation and strong axial knobs. Subsutural fold indistinctly defined on early whorls only. Four fine spirals on shoulder. Five to six stronger cords from angle to lower suture on spire-whorls, about 25 on body-whorl, base, and anterior end. Interspaces slightly more than width of spirals. Axials strong at periphery, but becoming obsolete before reaching either suture. ^[2]

The holotype of the species measures 9.1 mm (0.36 in) in height and 3.9 mm (0.15 in) in diameter. ^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1944. ^[2] The holotype was collected from Torquay, Victoria, Australia at an unknown date prior to 1945, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[3] [4]} In 1981, D. C. Long theorised that the late Eocene species M. aldingensis was ancestral to M. torquayensis. ^[5]

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in late Oligocene strata of the Port Phillip Basin of Victoria, including the Jan Juc Formation. ^{[3] [6]}

References

1. Mauidrillia torquayensis A. W. B. Powell, 1944 † . 8 December 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. OCLC   1550165130. Wikidata   Q135397912.
4. "Mauidrillia torquayensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 8 December 2025.
5. 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.
6. 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.