Zemitrella haroldi is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.[1]

Zemitrella haroldi
Shell of Zemitrella haroldi (holotype)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Columbellidae
Genus: Zemitrella
Species:
Z. haroldi
Binomial name
Zemitrella haroldi
Laws, 1935

Description

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The shell of Zemitrella haroldi can reach a length of 5.5 mm (0.22 in) and a diameter of 2.5 mm (0.098 in).

The shell is small. The spire is regularly conic, its height about half that of the shell. There are five post-nuclear whorls. The protoconch is rounded and blunt at the summit, convex and smooth below that. The nucleus is small and depressed. The whorls are practically flat. The suture at the periphery is indistinct. The whorls of the spire are entirely devoid of sculpture. The body whorl is flattish above, sharply convex to subangled at the periphery, concave below that, and cut in rapidly to the axis of the shell. There are about seven fine threads at the extreme anterior of the shell, and these trend spirally towards the columella (seen only on immature specimens). The columella is flexed to the left below. The outer lip shows a broad, low, unsculptured varix. Within there are several denticles. The posterior ones are the larger.[2]

Distribution

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Zemitrella haroldi is endemic to New Zealand. Fossils have been found in Tertiary strata near Pukeuri.

References

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  1. ^ a b MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Zemitrella elongata Beu, 1967 †. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=831099 on 2023-11-17
  2. ^ Laws, C.R. (1935) New Tertiary Mollusca from New Zealand-no. 3. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 65, 30–43, pls. 5–7
  • Beu, A.G. & Maxwell, P.A. (1990) Cenozoic Mollusca of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin, 58, 1–518.
  • Maxwell, P. A. (2009). Cenozoic Mollusca. Pp 232-254 in Gordon, D. P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.