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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Gyroscala xenicima

(Melvill & Standen, 1903)

Description:

Dimensions range from 3 mm - 31.2 mm high and 1.5 mm - 7 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.5:1 ~ 0.22:1

Shell: tall, slender, fusiform, acuminate; thin and fragile; microscopic to moderately small. About 15 whorls, evenly convex, connected; protoconch orthoconic with ~4 whorls whitish, glassy, and very smooth; teleoconch with 8-11 whorls strongly and evenly convex. Spire with angle of 25 - 30 degrees. Suture impressed. Imperforate: umbilicus closed. Approximately 10 - 17 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thin, sharp, threadlike widely spaced, strongly arcuate, sinuous. Costae not aligned with the previous whorl. Intercostal spaces polished, with feeble, scratch-like spiral striae- sometimes obsolete. Base with well defined cord forming a strong keel [Melvill & Standen, 1903:348 and Beechey, 2008], while others describe it as a thin cord [Weil et al., 1999:12 and Nakayama, 2003:18]with some costae continuing into aperture. Columella thin, white, margin straight. Aperture elliptical, nearly round, pale brown inside; outer lip margin arcuate. Operculum unknown.


Distribution:

Indo-West Pacific; Australia, known from Albany Passage, Cape York, Queensland, southwards to Sydney NSW [Beechey, 2008]; off Kii Peninsular, Japan [Nakayama, 2003]; Hawaiian Islands, Taiwan, South China Sea, Singapore, Natal, Zululand, Transkei, Gulf of Arabia, Gulf of Oman, Iran [Dushane, 1988]; East Florida to Brazil [Rosenberg et al., 2009]; Suriname [van Regteren Altena, 1975:27]


Habitat:

sand, intertidal to 285m [Brown & Neville, 2015], sand and Pinna beds [Dushane, 1990:1]


Etymology:

[greek] from xenikoc = strange


Type Material:

Syntype: British Museum (NH) syntypes no. 1903. 12. 15.20-21. for Gyroscala xenicima (Melvill & Standen, 1903) - Type Locality: Gulf of Oman. [DuShane, H., 1988h]
Syntype: NHMUK 1903.15.12.20-21 (syntypes). for Gyroscala xenicima (Melvill & Standen, 1903) - Type Locality: Mekran coast, Charbar, 5 fms [= 9 m], mud bottom; Gulf of Oman, 24o 58'N, 56o 54'E, 156 fms [= 285 m].. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: Suriname, Krofajapassie to 9½km to the east (Wiawia beach), D. J. Green & R. H. Hill leg. Paratypes (all from Suriname): 1 specimen, shell ridge Coronieweg, picket 216, XII 1948, Dr. D. C. Geijskes leg. - 5 specimens, near Popogaimama Creek, I1 VI 1959, Dr. D. C. Geijskes leg. - 5 specimens, near Toeholi Creek, i1 VI 1959, Dr. D. C. Geijskes leg. - Two specimen, near Kat Creek, 12 VIII 1957, Dr. D. C. Geijskes leg. -5 specimens, Krofajapassie to 9½ km to the east (Wiawia beach), 1069, D. J. Green & R. H. Hill leg. -1 specimen, Wiawia coast, west end of beach, 17 XI 1948, Dr. D. C. Geijskes leg. [as Epitonium (Gyroscala) turnerae Altena, 1971]. [Regteren Altena, C. O. van, 1971]


SpeciesImage

Beechey, D. (2008x). pp: Gyroscala xenicima. Fig. 1.

Yeppoon, Queensland (C.208096)

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Melvill, J. C. & Standen, R (1903).
Species Image
Plate VII. Fig. 17.
Scala (Opalia) xenicima sp.n. (Pl. VII., fig. 17).
Species Image
pp: 348.
Regteren Altena, C. O. van (1971).
Shown in text as Epitonium (Gyroscala) turnerae Altena, 1971
Species Image
pp: 81. Fig. 4a, b.
DuShane, H. (1988h).
Species Image
pp: 9.
Amaea(Acrilla) xenicima(Melvill & Standen,1903)dredged 50 m Taiwan;length 18mm, width 6,I mm, DuShanecollec- tion,
Species Image
pp: 7.
Amaea (Acrilla) xenicima (Melvill & Standen,1903).Oahu, HI; length 8 mm, width 3 mm. Weil Collection.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 119. Plate 8. Fig. 13-14.
figs 13-14: Amaea (Acrilla) xenicima (Melvill & Standen, 1903) height 31.2 mm; breadth 7.0 mm (WIMNH-Mo-Na725)
figs 15-17: height 6.2 mm; breadth 3.0 mm (NA);
fig. 16, base;
fig. 17, protoconch
Beechey, D. (2008).
Species Image
pp: Gyroscala xenicima. Fig. 1.
Yeppoon, Queensland (C.208096)

Synonymy:

Amaea turnerae (van Regteren Altena, 1971) [in Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B., 1999].
Epitonium (Gyroscala) turnerae Altena, 1971 [in Regteren Altena, C. O. van, 1971].
Epitonium (Gyroscala) turnerae Altena, 1971 [in Regteren Altena, C. O. van, 1975].
Epitonium xenicima (Melvill & Standen, 1903) [in Rosenberg, G., Moretzsohn, F. & García, E., 2009].


Source Literature:

Beechey, D. (2008x). Amaea_xenicima. Seashells of NSW. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Amaea_xenicima.htm [Accessed 10 May 2023]
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]
DuShane, H. (1988h). Hawaiian Epitoniidae pt.5. Hawaiian Shell News. 36(11). https://www.conchology.be/?t=5002&year=1988&volume=11&hsn=10345 [Accessed 16 September 2023]
DuShane, H. (1990). Hawaiian Epitoniidae. Hawaiian Shell News. 38(Sup.1). Hawaiian Malacological Society
Garcia, E.F. (2003). New records of Indo-Pacific Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with the description of nineteen new specie. Novapex. 4 (Hors-série 1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42322472 [Accessed 26 August 2023]
Heros V., Lozouet, P., Maestrati, P., von Cosel, R., Brabant D., & Bouchet P (2007). Mollusca of New Caledonia. in: Payri C.E. Richer de Forges B. (Eds.) Compendium of marine species of New Caledonia, Doc. Sci. Tech.. II7 2ed. https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-04/010038859.pdf [Accessed 28 February 2026]
Hutchings, P. & Ahyong, S. & Ashcroft, M. & Mcgrouther, Mark & Reid, A. (2013). Sydney Harbour: its diverse biodiversity. Australian Zoologist. 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2012.031 [Accessed 28 February 2026]
Kilburn, R.N (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
Melvill, J. C. & Standen, R (1903). The genus Scala (Klein) Humphrey, as represented in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and North Arabian Sea, with descriptions of new species.. Journal of Conchology. 10. Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31650162 [Accessed 26 February 2025]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
Regteren Altena, C. O. van (1971). On six species of marine Mollusca from Suriname, four of which are new. Zoologische Mededelingen. 45 (5). https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/319314/ZM1971045005.pdf [Accessed 26 June 2026]
Regteren Altena, C. O. van (1975). The Marine Mollusca of Suriname (Dutch Guiana) Holocene and recent Part III. Gastropoda and Cephalopoda. Zoologische Verhandelingen. 139. https://archive.org/details/zoologische-verhandelingen-139-001-104 [Accessed 26 June 2026]
Rosenberg, G., Moretzsohn, F. & García, E. (2009). Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico: Its Origins, Waters, and Biota.Vol 1: Biodiversity. D. L. Felder & D. K. Camp, eds,. Texas A & M University Press
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record