Tubbreva exigua
Tubbreva exigua is a species of minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs belonging to the family Cingulopsidae. First described by Winston Ponder in 1965, the species is endemic to New Zealand, primarily found in mid and lower tidal margins of the country.
Description
In the original description, Ponder described the genus as below:
The species' shell is similar in appearance to Skenella spadix, but has a taller spire, whorls that are less convex. The holotype of the species measures in height, with a width of.
Taxonomy
The species was first described by Winston Ponder in 1965 as Rufodardanula exigua, the type species of the subgenus Rufodardanula . The holotype was collected by W.R.B. Oliver on 4 September 1910 from brown weeds in rock pools east of Purau, Lyttelton Harbour, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. In 1980, Tubbreva was raised to genus level by Ponder and E. K. Yoo, making the species the type species for the genus, and leading to the currently accepted name Tubbreva exigua.
Distribution and habitat
T. exigua is endemic to New Zealand, found in the waters surrounding the mainland, as Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, the Chatham Islands and the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands. The species more commonly lives at mid- and lower tidal levels.