Poirieria zelandica
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| Poirieria zelandica | ||||||||||||||
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| Poirieria zelandica (Quoy & Gaimard,1833) |
Poirieria zelandica, common name the spiny murex, is a species of large predatory sea snail with an operculum. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the rock snails or murex snails.
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[edit] Distribution
This murex species is endemic to New Zealand. It is found around all three main New Zealand islands, plus the Chatham Islands.
[edit] Habitat
This large snail is found from shallow water to depths of 145 m.
[edit] Shell description
The shell of this species is white, of moderate size, with a broadly conical spire, inflated body whorl, and a long twisted siphonal canal. The sculpture is of five to seven frilled laminate varices, produced in hollow spines, often with the peripheral ones especially long.
The operculum is broadly leaf-shaped, with a pointed terminal nucleus. The spines are generally longer in deeper-water specimens.
The shell height is up to 65 mm, and width, with spines, is up to 79 mm (34 mm without spines).
[edit] References
- Powell A W B, New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
- Glen Pownall, New Zealand Shells and Shellfish, Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 85467 054 8
