Epitonium fasciatum
(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)
Description:
Dimensions range from 12.6 mm - 25 mm high and 6 mm - 6.14 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.48:1 ~ 0.25:1
Shell: narrowly conical, pyramidal; fragile; small to moderately small. Exterior colour white with a diffused brown band, costae white. About 9 whorls, rounded, sub-angulated at the shoulder, barely touching; teleoconch with 8-9 whorls rounded. Suture deeply fenestrate, but not perforated. Umbilicate: fenestrated, partly covered by outer lip. Approximately 6 - 9 costae on the body whorl. Costae are prosocline, thin, sharp-egded, equidistant. Costae continuous; hooked at the shoulders; distinctly recurved. Intercostal spaces smooth. Aperture nearly ovate; peristome wide, double, somewhat auriculate at the base ; outer lip excavated at the suture, then tapering to a sharp point. Operculum nucleus centred, translucent yellowish-brown.
Reeve [1873: pl. 3, fig. 13a-b] noted the species differs from E.alatum in being narrower, the shape of the varices and margin of the aperture. In each species there is an angle at the varix, but in E.fasciatum it is much more pointed and elevated than in E.alatum, and leans towards the whorl., , May also be confused with E. pyramidale or E. philippinarum, both of which have a closed umbilicus [Nakayama, 2003:49]
Distribution:
Off Kii Peninsula, Amami Islands to Okinawa, Japan; Philippines to Australia [Nakayama, 2003]; Pakistan [Melvill & Standen, 1903a:344]; Red Sea to Natal, South Africa [Kilburn, 1985].
Habitat:
10-50 m., fine sand [Higo, et al., 1999: 180].
Etymology:
[latin] fasciatus = banded or striped, in relation to the brown stripe on the shell.
Type Material:
Brown & Neville [2015:71] list Scalaria austrocaledonica Montrouzier, 1859 as a synonym of Epitonium fasciatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844); however, WoRMS [2026] recognises Epitonium austrocaledonicum (Montrouzier, 1859) as a distinct species.
Type not located [as Scalaria fasciata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844] - Type Locality: Catanuan, Luzon, Philippines.. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 71]
Type not indicated in text for Epitonium fasciatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - Type Locality: 'Catanauan, pr. Tayabas, ins. Luzon' [Luzon, Philippines]; 'Found in sandy mud at eight to ten fathoms' [10-50 m]. [Higo et al., 1999: G1887]
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxii. Fig. 12, 13.
Distribution
as listed in source literature
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria fasciata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate xxxii. Fig. 12, 13.
pp: 84.
original description
Translation: The shell is similar to that of Scalaria alata but narrower and with a more elevated and acute angle; the aperture is smaller, with an acuminated margin.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria fasciata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate III. Fig. 13a.
pp: unpaginated.
Translation: Shell white, with a single spiral brown band between the varices, pyramidal; whorls rounded, scarcely contiguous; varices equidistant, lamellar, projecting, elevated near the suture into an acute angle; aperture somewhat ovate, outer lip excavated at the suture, then becoming sharply pointed nearby.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria fasciata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate 11. Fig. 41.
pp: 55.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria fasciata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate 5. Fig. 7-8.
pp: 21.
Translation: Shell white, with a single brown spiral band between the varices, pyramidal in shape; whorls rounded, slightly convex, closely set; varices evenly spaced, lamellar, prominent, raised near the suture into a sharp angle; aperture nearly ovate, the outer lip excavated at the suture, then tapering upward into a sharp point.
Kilburn, R.N (1985).
Shown in text as Epitonium (Lamelliscala) fasciatum (Sowerby, 1844)
NM J8582
Pemba, Mozambique
14.5 x 7.8 mm
NM J7245
Cerf Is., Seychelles,
6.7 x 9.3 mm
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Shown in text as Epitonium (Lamelliscala) fasciatum (Sowerby, 1844)
