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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium acanthopleurum

(Verco, 1906)

Description:

Dimensions range from 4.1 mm - 41 mm high and 2.6 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.63:1 ~ 0.06:1

Shell: broad conical, somewhat stout; rather solid; minute to medium. Exterior colour buff, costae white. About 11 whorls; protoconch conical with ~3 whorls smooth, sharp; teleoconch with ~8 whorls rapidly increasing. Suture closed. Umbilicate: closesd. Approximately 14 - 30 costae on the body whorl. Costae are solid with about 7 thorny tubercules on the body whorl. Costae with thorny tubercules. Intercostal spaces with minute lirae which cross the costae. Columella with 7 oblique plaits the formed by the costae. Aperture round; outer lip with a shallow gutter at the base; inner lip thin, erect.


Distribution:

South Australia; Port Albert, Victoria [Macpherson & Gabriel, 1962:115]; Cape Jaffa to Neptune Islands, South Australia [Cotton & Godfrey, 1931:5]


Habitat:

Offshore in rather deep water, 90-104 fathoms [164.6-190.2 m[Cotton & Godfrey, 1931:5]


Etymology:

[greek] akanthos = thorn or spine and pleura = rib., In reference to the spiny costae.


Type Material:

holotype: SM D.13459 [as Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906] - Locality: 35 miles southwest of Neptune Is., South Australia, 104 fms [= 190 m].. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Verco, J.C. (1906). pp: Plate 4 No 8.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Verco, J.C. (1906).
Shown in text as Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906
Species Image
pp: Plate 4 No 8.
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pp: 145.
original description
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pp: 146.
original description
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931).
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Plate I. Fig. 2.
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pp: 5.
Kaicher, S.D. (1981).
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Card #: EP2-3049.
Holotype: South Australian Museum D13459

Synonymy:

Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906 [in Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K., 1931].
Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906 [in Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J., 1962].
Scala acanthopleura Verco, 1906 [in Verco, J.C., 1906].


Source Literature:

Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2015). Catalog of the recent taxa of the families Epitoniidae and Nystiellidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with a bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. Zootaxa. 3907(1). Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3907.1.1 [Accessed 22 October 2023]
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931). South Australian Shells Part II. The South Australian Naturalist. 13(1). Field Naturalists Society of South Australia. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42129287 [Accessed 8 June 2025]
Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. (1962). Marine Molluscs of Victoria. Melbourne University Press and National Museum of Victoria: Melbourne.. https://archive.org/details/marinemolluscsof0000jhop/page/118/mode/2up [Accessed 13 June 2025]
Verco, J.C. (1906). Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca, with descriptions of new species. Part IV.. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 30 Pt 4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16124267 [Accessed 19 June 2023]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
Wilson, B.R. (1993). Australian Marine Shells. Australian Marine Shells. 1. Odessey Publications
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record