Columbarium Martens, 1881

Harasewych, M. G., 2011, The Living Columbariinae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda: Turbinellidae) of New Zealand, Zootaxa 2744 (1), pp. 1-33 : 3-4

Genus Columbarium Martens, 1881

Synonymy:

Pleurotoma (Columbarium) Martens, 1881: 105–107 , pl.25, figs. 1–4.

Columbarium Piele, 1922: 14 , fig. 1; Thiele, 1929: 289, fig. 311; Clench, 1944: 1; Darragh, 1969: 71. Type species. Pleurotoma (Columbarium) spinicinctum Martens, 1881 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Shell long (to 107 mm), fusiform, with moderately tall spire; shoulder strong, with broad, open, laterally to posteriorly directed spines along periphery; anterior carina strong, usually with scales or open spines; siphonal canal long, stout, axial, with or without spiral bands, scabrous spines along proximal half, smooth, slightly spirally coiled along distal portion. Protoconch bulbous, strongly deviated, first whorl often largest. Suture adpressed onto or slightly above anterior carina of previous whorl. Inner lip of aperture, proximal portion of siphonal canal lined with raised lamina. Shell color white to tan. Pigmentation, when present, darker brown, of axial bands or confined to region between adjacent spines. Rachidian teeth of radula with 3 cusps along U-shaped basal plate lacking significant lateral expansions (Peile 1922: fig. 1; Darragh 1969: fig. 8; Harasewych 1983b: fig. 11).

Remarks. Earliest records attributed to the genus date from the Maastrichtian of Belgium. Columbarium has been reported from the Wangaloan (Paleocene) of New Zealand [ Fulgurofusus vulneratus Finlay & Marwick, 1937 was reassigned to Columbarium by Darragh (1969: 73) based on the presence of a columellar lamina that is lacking in Fulgurofusus , although Stilwell & Zinsmeister (1992: 117) questioned this reassignment]. Columbarium pataka Maxwell, 1978 from the Bortonian (Middle Eocene) Hampden Formation of South Island, was a member of an outer shelf / upper continental slope fauna ( Beu et al. 1990: 99). Although Maxwell (1978: 38) regarded this species to be more closely related to Columbarium heberti Briart & Cornet, 1877 , from the Maastrichtian of northern Europe, than to Columbarium vulneratus , he questioned its generic assignment (see Remarks under Coluzea mariae for a further discussion of this species). Columbarium maorum P. Marshall & Murdoch, 1923 , from Kaiatan- Runangan (Late Eocene) deposits on South Island, has been reassigned to the turrid genus Cochlespira ( Beu et al. 1990: 125) . Several species of Columbarium are reported from the Eocene and Upper Miocene of southeastern Australia ( Darragh 1969). In the Recent fauna, Columbarium is widespread along the western margin of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from central Japan to eastern Australia and New Zealand, with several species occurring off southeastern Africa.