Myrtea maoria

Myrtea maoria is an extinct species of bivalve, a marine mollusc, in the family Lucinidae. Fossils of the species date to early Miocene strata of the west coast of the Auckland Region, New Zealand.

Description

In the original description, Powell described the species as follows:
The holotype of the species measures in height and in length. The species can be identified sue to its more oval outline than other members of Pteromyrtea.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1935. The holotype was collected at an unknown date prior to 1935 from between Powell Bay and Bartrum Bay, approximately south of Muriwai, Auckland Region, and is held in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in early Miocene strata of the Nihotupu Formation of New Zealand, on the west coast of the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region, New Zealand. The deposits of the Nihotupu Formation in the western Waitākere Ranges where fossils of the species have been found are mid-bathyal.