Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990)
| | Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990) |
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  (Pl. 37p): holotype, GS391, N28/f7459, Waihi Beach, Hawera, Taranaki, Waipipian (TM6825, GNS) |
Beu & Maxwell (1990): Chapter 14; p. 301; pl. 37 p.
Synonymy: Alcithoe haweraensis Marwick 1926a, p. 302; Alcithoe (Alcithoe) haweraensis, Beu & Maxwell 1990, p. 301, pl. 37p
Classification: Volutidae: Zidoninae
Description: Moderately large for genus (80-100 mm high), elongate, with moderately tall spire (half height of aperture), straight columella, and wide, very shallow anterior notch. Spire outline strongly stepped by prominent shoulder angle (medial on spire whorls) and strongly concave sutural ramp; last whorl moderately inflated below shoulder and contracting gently to a shallowly concave neck. Sculpture of prominent, narrowly crested, widely spaced axial costae commencing abruptly at shoulder, extending to lower suture on spire and well down onto base on last whorl, becoming weak over last half-whorl; 15 on penultimate whorl. Aperture long, narrow, with thickened, narrowly reflected outer lip, and 5 narrow, strongly oblique columellar plaits. Protoconch similar to that of A. arabica (P1. 49d) but a little smaller.
Comparison: Alcithoe haweraensis is similar to the living A. wilsonae Powell (Dell 1978, fig. 21-32) but is more parallel-sided and still more prominently costate than the most extreme forms of A. wilsonae. The environment inhabited by A. haweraensis was shallow near-shore soft substrates, strikingly different from that of the outer shelf to upper bathyal A. wilsonae. The ancestry of A. haweraensis is unclear.
Distribution: Opoitian-Waipipian; Waihi Beach, Hawera, South Taranaki, Waipipian (type); an uncommon species occurring in inner-shelf sandstone (with abundant Phialopecten, Mesopeplum, Polinices, Aethocola, Maoricrypta, Dosinia, etc.) at Waihi Beach, Hawera, and nearby localities.
Cite this publication as: "A.G. Beu and J.I. Raine (2009). Revised
descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990). GNS
Science miscellaneous series no. 27."
© GNS Science, 2009
ISBN
978-0-478-19705-1
ISSN 1177-2441
(Included with a PDF facsimile file
copy of New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin 58 in CD version
from: Publications Officer, GNS Science, P.O. Box 30368 Lower Hutt, New
Zealand)