Discovery of live material of Marginella (Roseamarginella) namaqua

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Recently (March 2024) the authors undertook another field trip to the Kalahari and northern West Coast of South Africa. In March 2021 the authors had an expedition through the Kalahari, Karoo and West Coast of South Africa that took them to a little-known fisher’s town, Hondeklip Bay. For background on the town, in 1846, Thomas Grace (a ship’s captain) discovered a small natural harbor and he established a trading station, naming the town after a gneiss rock which vaguely resembles a dog. The name of the town is “Hondeklipbaai”, an Afrikaans name that translates as “dog stone bay” in English. It became the preferred harbor of export for copper ore, until the harbor in Port Nolloth was developed in the 1850s. Alluvial diamond-mining operations started in the area in 1970 and constitutes the main business of mines in that area of the Northern Cape (Mohomed 2006). Just north of the Hondeklip Bay lighthouse a lesser-known bay is found, “Moordenaarsbaai”, where the study material that were used for describing the species was collected. Unfortunately, at that stage the authors could only spend one and a half day in the area, and no live material could be collected due to the neat tide and stormy seas. The recent trip to Hondeklip Bay by the authors did not disappoint, the tide timing was perfect with springtide and good weather. A bit of scratching between the rocks and sea grass in rough black-muddy sand revealed three live specimens. What makes this special is that this species so far only been found in this area and this is the first livematerial.