Pfeifferia cressida Hutton, 1883

Brook, Fred J., Kennedy, Martyn, King, Tania M., Ridden, Johnathon, Shaw, Matthew D. & Spencer, Hamish G., 2020, Catalogue of New Zealand land, freshwater and estuarine molluscan taxa named by Frederick Wollaston Hutton between 1879 and 1904, Zootaxa 4865 (1), pp. 1-73 : 24-26

Pfeifferia cressida Hutton, 1883

Pl. 2, fig. F

Hutton, 1883. New Zealand Journal of Science, 1: 476.

Type material. In Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, according to Suter (1913: 650), overlooked and reported as missing by Freeman et al. (1997: 36), but one damaged specimen rediscovered in 2017. Lectotype (designated here), CMNZ M231 (dry shell). The molluscan collection at CMNZ has radula fragments mounted on a glass slide with the label details ‘ Pyrrha cressida , Southland, XVI p. 178’, in Hutton’s handwriting (i.e., CMNZ 2017.17.52), which is probably primary type material (see description of radula and jaw by Hutton 1884b: 178).

CMNZ molluscan catalogue details. M231—‘ Pyrrha cressida Hutton , Southland (1 specimen) (old No. 51) ’.

Type locality. ‘Waiau, Southland (G. M. Thomson)’ ( Hutton 1883g: 476, 1884b: 178).

Previous illustrations of type material. Jaw and radula teeth illustrated by Hutton (1884b: pl. 9, fig. X, pl. 11, fig. N) probably from type material; Pilsbry (1893 [in 1893–1895]: 346, pl. 3, figs. 17–19—‘ Type. Suter, del.’).

Remarks. Hutton submitted a description of Pfeifferia (?) cressida to the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute issue for 1883, but publication was delayed until May 1884 ( Hutton 1884b: 178), and was pre-empted by his brief description of Pfeiffera [sic] (?) cressida in an account of a meeting of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury ( Hutton 1883g: 476). Pfeifferia cressida Hutton, 1883 is the type species of Pyrrha Hutton, 1883 (non Cabanis 1849), by original designation, and of the replacement genus name Thermia Hutton, 1904 , by designation of Hutton (1883i: 532) (see ICZN Article 67.8).

Current taxonomy. Thermia cressida (Hutton, 1883) — Suter (1913: 649), Powell (1979: 316), Spencer et al. (2009: 216).

Distribution. New Zealand; previously interpreted as having a wide distribution in the southern and western South Island, and on Stewart Island (e.g., Suter 1913: 650; Powell 1979: 316; Spencer & Willan 1996: 41), but preliminary results of a phylogenetic study (M. Kennedy unpub. data) indicate that this refers to a species complex, and the identity and distribution of Hutton’s species need to be re-evaluated.