Inquisitor trinervis

Inquisitor trinervis
Temporal range:
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Pseudomelatomidae
Genus: Inquisitor
Species:
I. trinervis
Binomial name
Inquisitor trinervis
Synonyms[1]
  • Pseudoinquisitor trinervis A. W. B. Powell, 1944

Inquisitor trinervis is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc, in the family Pseudomelatomidae.[1] Fossils of the species date to early Pliocene strata of the Gippsland Basin of Victoria, Australia.

Description

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

Shell robust, strongly axially and spirally sculptured. Axials broadly rounded, vertical, 14-15 per whorl, extending from peripheral angle to half way across base. Spiral cords moderately strong, 3 on spire-whorls, from periphery to lower suture, and 13 on body-whorl and base. Subsutural fold distinct over early spire-whorls, but later becoming obsolete. Shoulder deeply concave. Periphery just above middle.[2]

The holotype of the species measures 19.5 mm (0.77 in) in length and has a diameter of 7 mm (0.28 in).[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1944 as Pseudoinquisitor trinervis.[2] Powell recombined the species as Inquisitor trinervis in 1966,[3] a move that malacologist Thomas A. Darragh agreed with in 1970.[4] The holotype was collected from the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria, Australia at an unknown date prior to 1937 as a part of the Finlay Collection, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[5][6]

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in early Pliocene strata of the Gippsland Basin of Victoria, Australia, including the Jemmys Point Formation.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Inquisitor trinervis (A. W. B. Powell, 1944) †. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 16 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b c 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. This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.
  3. ^ Powell, A. W. B. (1 November 1966). "The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae: an evaluation of the valid taxa, both recent and fossil, with lists of characteristic species". Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 5. Auckland Institute and Museum. ISSN 0067-0456. LCCN 67091267. OCLC 956602. Wikidata Q115098397.
  4. ^ Darragh, Thomas A. (1970). "Catalogue of Australian Tertiary Mollusca (except chitons)" (PDF). Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria. 31: 125–212. doi:10.24199/J.MMV.1970.31.14. ISSN 0083-5986. Wikidata Q56194898.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ "Inquisitor trinervis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 16 December 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.