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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium bulbulum

(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 13 mm - 13 mm high.
Width to height ratio: 00:1 ~ 00:1

Shell: pyramidal; small. Exterior colour pale pink, pale brown or fulvous. About 5 whorls, rounded, contiguous; rapidly growing. Spire short. Umbilicate: almost imperforate. Costae are rather distant, irregular, unequal, slightly arched, rounded. Aperture large, ovate-rounded.; inner lip somewhat expanded, anteriorly nearly square.


Distribution:

Singapore [Tan & Woo, 2010:40]; India [Kaicher, 1980:EP1-2289]; Pakistan [Melvill & Standen, 1903a:341].


Habitat:

265 m, shell rubble [Melvill, 1909].


Etymology:

[latin] diminutive form of bulbus= a little bulb.


SpeciesImage

Reeve, L. A. (1873). Plate ix. Fig. 62.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Type Material:

Kaicher [1980: EP1-2289] cites USNM 90571 as Epitonium bulbulum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844); however, the Smithsonian online catalogue currently records USNM 90571 as Epitonium algerianum (Weinkauff, 1866).

The following list brings together type material and other cited specimens as reported in the sources examined, grouped under the names and designations used in each source. The same specimen may appear in multiple entries drawn from different sources. Some entries concern other species included by authors for comparison; inclusion in this list does not imply synonymy.
Epitonium bulbulum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)TypeUSNM 90571. [Kaicher, 1980: EP1-2289].
Scalaria bulbulus G.B. Sowerby II, 1844Type not located[Brown & Neville, 2015: 48].


Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Species Image
Plate ix. Fig. 62.
Species Image
Shell very short, ventricose, imperforate, yellow; spire short, with five rounded, contiguous whorls, slightly spaced varices, slightly arched and rounded; aperture large, ovate-round.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria bulbulus G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
Plate 11. Fig. 49.
Species Image
pp: 56.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Species Image
Plate 2. Fig. 2.
Species Image
pp: 4.
Shell very short, swollen, imperforate, yellowish; spire short, with five rounded, contiguous whorls; varices somewhat distant, slightly curved; aperture large, ovate-round.
Melvill, J. C. (1909).
Species Image
pp: 84.
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
Species Image
Card #: EP1-2289.
Kaicher [1980: EP1-2289] cites USNM 90571 as Epitonium bulbulum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844); however, the Smithsonian online catalogue currently records USNM 90571 as Epitonium algerianum (Weinkauff, 1866)

Synonymy:

Epitonium (Epitonium) bulbulum (Sowerby, 1844) [Weil et al., 1999: 90]
Scala bulbulus Sowerby [Melvill & Standen, 1903a: 341]
Scalaria bulbulus G.B. Sowerby II, 1844 [Sowerby, 1844: 94; Brown & Neville, 2015: 48; Reeve, 1873: pl. 9, fig. 62]
Scalaria bulbulus Sowerby [Melvill, 1909: 84; Tryon, 1887: 56]


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]
Kaicher, S.D. (1980). Epitoniidae I [Pack 23]. S. D. Kaicher, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.femorale.com/kaicher/species.asp?f=Epitoniidae&c=125 [Accessed 8 May 2023]
Melvill, J. C. (1909). Report on the Marine Mollusca obtained by Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, F.R.S., among the Islands of the Indian Ocean in 1905.. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 13. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/57882 [Accessed 18 August 2025]
Melvill, J. C. & Standen, R. (1903a). 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]
Reeve, L. A. (1873). Monograph of the genus Scalaria. Conchologia iconica, or illustrations of the shells of molluscous animal. 19. London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8217819 [Accessed 24 August 2023]
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (2026). Invertebrate Zoology collections [Specimen database]. Smithsonian Institution. https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/ [Accessed 22 August 2026]
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Monograph of the genus Scalaria.. Thesaurus conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells.. 1 (4). London, privately published.. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11076419 [Accessed 22 June 2023]
Tan, S. K. & Woo, H. P. M. (2010). A preliminary checklist of the molluscs of Singapore. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research & Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore.
Tryon, G.W. (1887). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic with illustrations of the species. IX. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11026889 [Accessed 20 September 2025]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record