Pelicaria vermis

Pelicaria vermis
Dorsal view of a shell of Pelicaria vermis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:	Stromboidea
Family:	Struthiolariidae
Genus:	Pelicaria
Species:	P. vermis
Binomial name
Pelicaria vermis (Martyn, 1784)
Synonyms
Buccinum vermis Martyn, 1784 (basionym) Murex australis Gmelin, 1791 † Pelicaria mangaoparia Vella, 1953 † Pelicaria rotunda Vella, 1953 † Struthiolaria acuminata Marwick, 1924 † Struthiolaria convexa Marwick, 1924 Struthiolaria crenulata Lamarck, 1822 † Struthiolaria fossa Marwick, 1924 Struthiolaria inermis G.B. Sowerby I, 1821 † Struthiolaria media Marwick, 1924 Struthiolaria tricarinata Lesson, 1841 Struthiolaria vermis (Martyn, 1784) Struthiolaria vermis bradleyi Neef, 1970 Struthiolaria vermis flemingi Neef, 1970 Struthiolaria vermis grahami Neef, 1970 Struthiolaria vermis powelli Neef, 1970 Struthiolaria vermis vellai Neef, 1970 Struthiolaria vermis wellmani Neef, 1970

Pelicaria vermis, known as the small ostrich foot shell or takai in Māori, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Struthiolariidae. It is the only extant species in the genus.

Distribution & Habitat

This species is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand, where it lives just beneath the surface on tidal flats and off sandy beaches, occasionally to depths of 90m.

Shell of Pelicaria vermis, apertural view

Description

The shell height is up to 54 mm, and width up to 35 mm, colouring usually yellow brown, rarely plain yellow or purple.

References

• Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp
• Marwick, J. (1924). The Struthiolariidae. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 55: 161-190.
• Vella, P. (1953). The genus Pelicaria in the Tertiary of east Wairarapa. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 81: 35-48.
• Neef, G. (1970). Notes on the subgenus Pelicaria. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 13: 436–476.
• Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1

External links

• Martyn T. (1784-1787). The universal conchologist, exhibiting the figure of every known shells. London, published by the author. 4 vols. 40 pp., 80 pls.
• Gmelin J.F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae
• Sowerby, G. B., I. (1821-1834). The genera of recent and fossil shells, for the use of students, in conchology and geology. Published in 42 numbers. Vol. 1,
• Lamarck, [J.-B. M. de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp]
• Beu, AG (2010). "Marine Mollusca of isotope stages of the last 2 million years in New Zealand. Part 3. Gastropoda (Vetigastropoda - Littorinimorpha)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 40 (3–4): 59–180. doi:10.1080/03036758.2010.500717.
• "Struthiolaria (Pelicaria) vermis vermis". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 11 March 2011.