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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Cirsotrema martyr

(Iredale, 1936)

Description:

Dimensions range from 38 mm - 55 mm high and 15 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.39:1 ~ 0.27:1

Shell: tall, moderately slender; solid, heavy, thick; moderately small to medium. Exterior colour dirty white. About 10 whorls, rounded; protoconch missing in hootype; teleoconch with 9-10 whorls. Suture impressed. Imperforate: umbilicus closed. Approximately 14 - 16 costae on the body whorl. Costae are strong, friily, composed of closely packed lamellae. Costae recurved, twice as high as wide. Intercostal spaces with faint spiral threads. Base with a strong spiral cord; crossed by the costae which continue onto base. Fasciole connected to costae. Aperture almost circular; peristome complete; outer lip thickened by a prominent external rib.


Distribution:

Endemic to Australia; known from Stanwell Park, NSW [Beechey, 2008], southwards to south of Gabo Island, Victoria [Iredale, 1936:303].


Habitat:

Offshore in rather deep water, 128m [Beechey, 2008] -265 m [Iredale, 1936:303].


Etymology:

[greek] from martyr = witness,The reason for the name was not explicitly stated by the author.


Type Material:

Holotype: AM C.60659 [as Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936] - Type Locality: Australia, Victoria, Bass Strait, 35mls S of Gabo Is (38° 10' 00' S, 149° 55' 00' E) 11/05/1915 - 11/05/1915, Accession, FIS 'Endeavour'. [Australian Museum, 2026]


SpeciesImage

Iredale, T. (1936). Fig. 25.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Iredale, T. (1936).
Species Image
Fig. 25.
Species Image
pp: 303.
original description
Australian Museum (2026).
Shown in text as Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936
Species Image
Fig. C.60659
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Cirsotrema martyr (Iredale, 1936)
Holotype C.60659
Australian Museum. Photograph: M. Allen.

Copyright Australian Museum. Released under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0.

Synonymy:

Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936 [in Australian Museum, 2026].
Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936 [in Iredale, T., 1936].
Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936 [in Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J., 1962].
Dannevigena martyr Iredale, 1936 [in Wilson, B.R., 1993].


Source Literature:

Australian Museum (2026). Australian Museum provider for OZCAM. Occurrence dataset. Atlas of Living Australia. https://doi.org/10.15468/e7susi accessed via GBIF.org [Accessed 18 July 2026]
Beechey, D. (2008y). Cirsotrema_martyr. Seashells of NSW. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Cirsotrema_martyr.htm [Accessed 10 May 2023]
Iredale, T. (1936). Australian molluscan notes. No. 2.. Records of the Australian Museum. 19(5). Australian Museum, Sydney. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.19.1936.704 [Accessed 14 September 2023]
Kaicher, S.D. (1981). Epitoniidae II [Pack 30]. S. D. Kaicher, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.femorale.com/kaicher/species.asp?f=Epitoniidae&c=125 [Accessed 8 May 2023]
Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. (1962). Marine Molluscs of Victoria. Melbourne University Press and National Museum of Victoria: Melbourne.. https://archive.org/details/marinemolluscsof0000jhop/page/118/mode/2up [Accessed 13 June 2025]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
Wilson, B.R. (1993). Australian Marine Shells. Australian Marine Shells. Vol.1. Odessey Publications
WoRMS Editorial Board, (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record