- Source: Veprecula cooperi
Veprecula cooperi is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.
Description
The length of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 2 mm.
(Original description) The small, fragile, fusiform shell is slender and prickly. The spire is pagodiform. The shell contains five whorls, plus a three-whorled embryonic protoconch, which is finely longitudinally
ribbed. The whorls are convex, contracting rapidly. The sculpture shows four sharp raised spiral ribs, crossed by about twelve equally sharp raised axial ribs, which disappear below the fourth spiral, and are interrupted above by the broad anal fasciole. The intersection of the ribs is marked by a sharp prickle. Between the raised ribs are deep oblong pits, the surface of which
is smooth and dull. The anal fasciole is crossed by fine crescentic growth-lines, and bordered on its outer edge by a narrow double thread. The anal slit nearly 1 mm. in length. The suture is distinct, serrated by the lowest spiral. Coming from inside the vertical columella and covering the base and the siphonal canal are about twelve fine equidistant spiral threads. The siphonal anal is short, open, very slightly recurved. The outer lip is thin and sharp. In the holotype it is slightly thickened by the last axial rib . The inner surface is deeply grooved by the spirals, and less so by the axials. The colour is uniform light biscuit-brown. The operculum is unknown. The animal is unknown.
Distribution
This marine species is endemic to New Zealand and occurs off Off Three Kings Islands, Northland to Bay of Plenty, North Island,
References
Powell, A.W.B. 1979 New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells, Collins, Auckland
Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
External links
Spencer H.G., Willan R.C., Marshall B.A. & Murray T.J. (2011). Checklist of the Recent Mollusca Recorded from the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone
Tucker, J.K. (2004). "Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 682: 1–1295. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.682.1.1.
Gastropods.com: Veprecula cooperi
