“Venustas benthicola n. sp. Fig. 21.
Shell conical, thin. Spire outlines straight, faintly concave near apex, spire slightly less than one and a half times the aperture. Whorls seven. Protoconch of one raised, polished, white whorl. Subsequent early whorls cancellate. Antepenultimate and penultimate with six raised beaded spiral cords with subsidiary fine cords developing in the lower two interstices of the penultimate. Body whorl with eight strong and two weak cords above the periphery, and three weak and eight strong below, extending across the base, the lowermost bordering the columellar callus. The beads on the spiral cords occur as frequently as in punctulata punctulata (i.e., one per mm.), but they are not so strongly developed nor do they show to any marked degree the typical tessellated appearance of other species in this series. Body of shell straw-coloured, with dark reddish-brown cords. Operculum normal.
Height, 21.8 mm.; diameter, 22.0 mm. (holotype).
Holotype (Reg. No. M.4728) in the Dominion Museum.
Locality: Dredged in 52 fathoms, 43° 21’ S., 175° E. (holotype); in 57 fathoms, 43° 24’ S., 175° 18’ E. (paratype). Presented by Fisheries Department.
This species appears to be allied to V. punctulata punctulata. The holotype is a three-quarter grown shell, but when compared with specimens of punctulata of similar size can be easily differentiated by the straight spire, the colour, and the sculpture. Punctulata, even at this stage, has an expanded body whorl and a flatter outline. The broken paratype shows that the species grows to at least 28.0 mm. in diameter, and that the sculpture is constant. This may be a benthic representative of punctulata.”
Height.
Diameter.
Spire Angle.
V. benthicola n. sp.
21.8 mm.
22.0 mm.
75°
V. punctulata punctulata (Lyall Bay)
22.0 mm.
22.0 mm.
81°
V. punctulata punctulata (Island Bay)
20.5 mm.
23.0 mm.
86°
V. punctulata punctulata (Kapiti Island)
21.0 mm.
23.0 mm.
82°
(Dell, 1950: 47-48)
Calliostoma benthicola is a species of medium-sized deepwater sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calliostomatidae, the calliostoma top snails.[1]
Some authors place this taxon in the subgenus Calliostoma (Maurea).
The height of the shell attains 26 mm.
This marine species occurs off New Zealand.
Calliostoma benthicola is a species of medium-sized deepwater sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calliostomatidae, the calliostoma top snails.
Some authors place this taxon in the subgenus Calliostoma (Maurea).
