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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; rounded, rapidly growing. Spire short. Suture deep. Umbilicate: almost imperforate. Costae are rather distant, irregular, unequal, slightly arched, rounded. Aperture large, ovate-rounded.; inner lip somewhat expanded, anteriorly nearly square.


Distribution:

India


Habitat:

265 m, shell rubble [Melvill, 1909]


Etymology:

[latin] diminutive form of bulbus= a little bulb


Type Material:

Type: USNM 90571 for Epitonium bulbulum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844). [Kaicher, S.D., 1980]
Type not located; stated by G.B. Sowerby II (1844b: 95) to be 'in the possession of Mr. G. Sowerby, Sen.' Type locality: unknown. [as Scalaria bulbulus G.B. Sowerby II, 1844]. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Clessin, S. (1897). Plate 2. Fig. 2.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873-1874).
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Plate ix. Fig. 62.
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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. (1879).
Shown in text as Scalaria bulbulus G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
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Plate 11. Fig. 49.
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pp: 56.
Clessin, S. (1897).
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Plate 2. Fig. 2.
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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).
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pp: 84.
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
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Card #: EP1-2289.

Synonymy:

Scalaria bulbulus G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Scalaria bulbulus G.B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


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]
Clessin, S. (1897). Die Familie der Scalariidae. In W. Kobelt (Ed.), Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Neu herausgegeben und vervollständigt. 2(13). Bauer & Raspe, NürnbergBauer & Raspe, Nürnberg. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34259905 [Accessed 21 June 2025]
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]
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]
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873-1874). Monograph of the genus Scalaria. Conchologia iconica, or illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 19, pls 1-16 and unpaginated text.. 19. London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8217819 [Accessed 24 August 2023]
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 [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record