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Monodilepas diemenensis

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Gastropoda
Subclassis: Orthogastropoda
Superordo: Vetigastropoda
Superfamilia: Fissurelloidea
Familia: Fissurellidae
Subfamilia: Emarginulinae
Tribus: Diodorini
Genus: Monodilepas
Species: M. diemenensis

Monodilepas diemenensis is species of small sea snail, a keyhole limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

This species is found at North Island, New Zealand.

Original description

Monodilepas diemenensis was originally discovered and described by Harold John Finlay in 1930.[1] Finlay's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

Monodilepas diemenensis n. sp.

Similar to monilifera, but rather more solid. Sculpture is coarser, like otagoensis, shape a cross between monilifera and skinneri Finlay, not so high as the former, not so elongate and parallel-sided as the latter, which is from the Chatham Islands (Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 59, p. 236, Fig. 59, 1928). Distinguishable at sight from all the other species by the characters of the hinder margin and foramen; the hinder margin instead of being in the plane of the others is considerably raised off the ground, leaving a wide gape; the foramen is larger and more elongate than in monilifera, almost equalling skinneri in this feature, and especially has a quite different internal callus; this is hexagon-shaped instead of subtriangular, the posterior margin being strongly angled.

Length, 13.2 mm.; breadth, 9.5 mm.; height, 4 mm. (a slightly larger size than this is reached).

Locality—Cape Maria van Diemen, not uncommon cast up on the beach.

Type in Finlay collection.

There are apparently no previous records of the genus from the North Island.

References

This article incorporates public domain text coming from New Zealand from the reference [1].

1. ^ a b c Finlay H. J. (1930). "Additions to the Recent Molluscan Fauna of New Zealand. No. 3." Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 61: 222-247.

Further reading

* Powell A. W. B., William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1

Biology Encyclopedia

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Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License