Crassitoniella thola

Crassitoniella thola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Superfamily: Cingulopsoidea
Family: Eatoniellidae
Genus: Crassitoniella
Species:
C. thola
Binomial name
Crassitoniella thola
Ponder, 1965
Synonyms[1]
  • Eatoniella (Albitoniella) thola Ponder, 1965
  • Eatoniella thola Ponder, 1965 (original combination)

Crassitoniella thola is a species of sea snail in the genus Crassitoniella.[2][3][4][5][6] It is endemic to New Zealand, found off the northern coast of the North Island, primarily in the waters surrounding Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands.

Description

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

Shell small, smooth, shining, with a blunt protoconch. Whorls 3½, lightly convex, false margined, thin, transparent, protoconch large, bluntly dome-shaped, smooth, not distinctly marked off; body whorl large, periphery and base rounded. Aperture large, round, peristome continuous, weakly thickened; inner lip spread over body whorl as a thin layer; columella weakly thickened, vertical; a narrow chink behind columella but no umbilicus; outer lip excavated below, dilated, bent downwards slightly posteriorly, a transparent narrow zone behind. Colour pale yellowish, a narrow white band below periphery and umbilical region. There is some variation in the height of the spire and the bluntness of the protoconch. Animal, radula and operculum unknown.[7]

The species' shells are more bluntly conical and wider than Eatoniella pallida, which has a similar appearance.[8] The shell of the holotype of the species has a height of 0.95 mm (0.037 in), and a width of 1.25 mm (0.049 in).[7]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Winston Ponder in 1965 as Eatoniella (Albitoniella) thola, who tentatively placed the species within the subgenus Albitoniella.[7] The holotype of the species is held by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.[9] Ponder and E. K. Yoo stated that the species was likely a member of Crassitoniella in 1978.[10] The species was recombined as Crassitoniella thola in 1995.[11]

Distribution and habitat

C. thola is endemic to the waters of north of the North Island of New Zealand, primarily found around Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands. Some members have been found in the Bay of Plenty, and off the eastern coast of East Cape.[7][12]

References

  1. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Crassitoniella thola (Ponder, 1965)". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  2. ^ Australia, Atlas of Living. "Species: Crassitoniella thola (Gastropod)". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. ^ "ADW: Crassitoniella thola: CLASSIFICATION". animaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Crassitoniella thola (Ponder, 1965)". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Schemes including Crassitoniella thola · iNaturalist". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d 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.
  8. ^ Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 90. ISBN 0002169061.
  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. OCLC 1550165130. Wikidata Q135397912.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "NZ Mollusca - Crassitoniella thola". www.mollusca.co.nz. Retrieved 2 August 2023.

Further reading

  • Powell, A.W.B. 1979 New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells, Collins, Auckland (p. 90)
  • Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. pp 196–219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.