Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Acirsa amara

Kilburn, 1985

Description:

Dimensions range from 11 mm - 12.5 mm high.
Width to height ratio: 00:1 ~ 00:1

Shell: tall and slender, acuminate; small. Exterior colour white may display brown patches on top half of whorls preceding varices, costae axial ribs white. About 13 whorls, weakly convex; protoconch evidently subcylindrical, subcylindrical with ~2 whorls smooth, inflated whorls; teleoconch with ~11 whorls convex. Suture channelled. Imperforate. Approximately 11 costae on the body whorl. Costae are broad, low, strong on earlier whorls becoming obsolete on later whorls. There are 2 - 7 varices on each whorl. The varices are low, irregularly spaced. Intercostal spaces shallow spiral grooves, number increasing on later whorls. Interstices with approximately 7 - 14 spiral striae per whorl. Base concave with coarse growth-lines. Base with 3 spiral striae, Columella callus a thin glaze. Aperture elongate oval, lip not thickened; peristome discontinuous.

Distribution:

Australia; Sydney, NSW, southern Australia to western Great Australian Bight, WA [Beechey, 2008]; Agulhas Bank, South Africa [Kilburn, 1985:343]

Habitat:

5 -183m [Beechey, 2008]

Etymology:

[greek] amara = a trench or channel - referring to suture.

Type Material:

NM A2937/T2769 (holotype). for Acirsa amara Kilburn, 1985 - Locality: Agulhas Bank, off Cape St. Blaize area, ex pisce.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]

SpeciesImage

Beechey, D. (2008). pp: Acirsa amara. Fig. 1.

SE of South West Cape, Tasmania
119 m
(C.unreg)

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Kilburn, R.N (1985).

Species Image

pp: 343.

Species Image

pp: 246. Plate 11, Acirsa amara sp. n..

holotype, length 11,1 mm.

Beechey, D. (2008).

Species Image

pp: Acirsa amara. Fig. 1.

SE of South West Cape, Tasmania, in 119 m (C.unreg)

Source Literature:

Beechey, D. (2008). Shells NSW -Plastiscala_magna. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Plastiscala_magna.htm [Accessed 11 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]
Kilburn, R.N (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
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