Crassitoniella thola
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| 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] | |
| |
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.
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]