Veprecula adelaidensis

Veprecula adelaidensis 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:	Raphitomidae
Genus:	Veprecula
Species:	†V. adelaidensis
Binomial name
†Veprecula adelaidensis Powell, 1944

Veprecula adelaidensis is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Raphitomidae. ^[1] Fossils of the species date to the middle Miocene, and have been found in strata of the St Vincent Basin of South Australia.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

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

Shell small, broadly fusiform, sculptured with heavy rounded axials crossed by a few strong cords. Surface cancellated by subsidiary spiral and axial threads. There are four primary spirals on the spire-whorls. The third one down is much the strongest and forms the peripheral carina at one third whorl height. About 21 primary spirals on body-whorl, 11 of them linear-spaced on the neck; four subsidiary threads on the shoulder and one or two in the interspaces of the primaries. Axials very heavy, rounded, strongly projecting, vertical, 8 per whorl. The sinus is shaped as in Veprecula , although not so deep, but it is deeper than in Asperdaphne . ^[2]

The holotype of the species measures 6.7 mm (0.26 in) in height and 3.5 mm (0.14 in) in diameter. ^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1944, as a likely member of the genus Veprecula. ^[2] The holotype was collected from the Metropolitan Abattoirs Bore in Adelaide, Australia at a depth of between 122–152 m (400–499 ft) by Walter Howchin and Joseph Verco in 1919, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[3] [4]}

Distribution

This extinct marine species dates to the middle Miocene (Bairnsdalian), and occurs in the strata of the St Vincent Basin of South Australia, including the lower Dry Creek Sands. ^{[3] [5]}

References

1. Veprecula adelaidensis A. W. B. Powell, 1944 † . 13 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. 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.
4. "Veprecula adelaidensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 13 November 2025.
5. 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.