93 — Small lined whelk, Buccinulum vittatum

Buccinulum vittatum, Lion Rock, Piha, 2015.
The shell in the middle has a polychaete
tube-worm attached to it.

Buccinulum vittatum, Lion Rock, Piha, 2015.

Endmic and found throughout New Zealand, Buccinulum vittatum * is a small whelk, reaching about 33mm. They are extremely variable in shape and colour and many species were originally described based on these variations. These days the number of species has been reduced, so at present there is one variable species and a regional sub-species from the Chatham Islands.

They are common under rocks at low tide and down to a few metres. The examples pictured here are a form called motutaraense (Powell, 1929) and was originally described from the west coast of Auckland. These ones were found living in deep rock pools on the south side of Lion Rock, Piha, an area with very high wave exposure.

* (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833)





More info:

More images: http://mollusca.co.nz/speciesdetail.php?speciesid=1080&species=Buccinulum%20vittatum