
This rare New Zealand shellfish, the size of a breadcrumb, was collected from sediment deep under the ocean surface. It belongs to the monoplacophorans, an uncommon class of shellfish, long known as fossils. The first living monoplacophoran was discovered only in 1952, and like this New Zealand species, was living in deep-water sediment.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Reference:
I.006706
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