Gastropoda Stromboidea | Species / Tessarolax

Species / Tessarolax

Stromboidea

Original Description of the genus Tessarolax by Gabb, 1864:

"Shell fusiform, spire and aperture about equal; spire incrusted by a thin deposit, so as to obliterate the sutures. Body whorl bearing two (or more) varix-like processes. Aperture broad above, continued below in a long, curved canal; a posteriore canal continues for some distance up the spire. Columella incrusted, but without folds or teeth. Outer lip produced into two long spine-like canals."

Type species: Tessarolax distorta Gabb, 1864

Species of Tessarolax are

History and Synonymy

2009

Comment Kollmann, 2009, p. 53:

"Unfortunately, the type species of Tessarolax distorta Gabb, 1868, is not well preserved. The rostrum is missing and has been added in the figure. The abapical digitation of the labrum is obviously rather broad, the adapical one is incomplete. In the text Gabb, l. c. states: “the greater part or the whole of the spire and body whorl covered by an extension of the inner lip in the adult”. This morphological feature is well visible in Gabb´s specimen, which Stewart (1926) has re-figured. It supports a systematic position of Tessarolax in the Pugnellinae."

2001

Tessarolax lunellae Squires & Saul, 2001

Comment Richard Squires, 2012, pers. commun.:
- "...there is no such taxon named Tessarolax lunellae Squires & Saul, 2001. Prior to the current paper I am working on, I have never named any species of Tessarolax. In 2001, I had three papers published; none of them deals with Tessarolax per se. We did name Spinigeropsis Squires & Saul, 2001, but we did not name any Tessarolax in that paper. The name lunellae sounds like louellae. I checked my records for taxa named in honor of Louella, and there is no Tessarolax louellae nor T. lunellae."

2015

Saul & Squires, 2015, p. 42:

"DIAGNOSIS. Mature shell with four, long, curved, unbranched, widely spaced, unflanged, canaliculate (internally channeled) digitations: three extending from outer lip and one engulfing rostrum. Apical digitation considerably exceeds height of spire and extends from apical corner of aperture on outer lip side of shell, angles across spire, and leaves spire near tip on a trajectory away from substrate (both this digitation and its adjoining apical-tip area became encrusted in Late Cretaceous). Posterior and anterior outer lip digitations represent continuous extensions of posterior and anterior carinae of last whorl; ventral side of latter digitation with localized callus knob on post-early Coniacian species. Rostral digitation engulfs rostrum and becomes very elongate; spiral ornamentation predominates."

Species formerly grouped into Tessarolax, now in different genera:

References