Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium platypleurum

(Verco, 1906)

Description:

Dimensions range from 5 mm - 5 mm high and 2.3 mm - 2.5 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.46:1 ~ 0.5:1

Shell: moderatley elongate; moderately solid; minute. Exterior colour white. About 10 whorls, convex; protoconch with ~2 whorls smooth whorls; teleoconch with ~8 whorls convex. Suture deep, simple. Approximately 15 costae on the body whorl. Costae are solid, rather low, surface slightly irregular. Costae subangular below the suture; a free edge projects slightly on either side of the costa. Intercostal spaces with obscure spiral striae. Columella oblique gutter at the base of the columella.. Aperture roundly quadrate.

Verco [1906: 145] observed that this species differed from E jukesianum (Forbes, 1852) by the rapid increase in the size of its whorls and more solid ribs

Distribution:

Western Port, Victoria [Macpherson, 1962:115]; Backstairs Passage to Francis Island, Cape Buffon, South Australia [Verco, 1906:145]; Northern Tasmania [Museums Victoria, 2026: F92600. [Museums Victoria [2026: F92599] also holds a single recorded specimen from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Habitat:

40 m.

Etymology:

[greek] from platys = broad or flat and pleura= side or rib.

Type Material:

Holotype: SM D.13460 [as Scala platypleura Verco, 1906] - Type Locality: Backstairs Passage, South Australia, 22 fms [= 40 m].. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 123]

SpeciesImage

Verco, J.C. (1906). pp: 145. Plate IV. Fig. 6.

Scala platypleura, spec. nov. PL iv., fig. 6.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Verco, J.C. (1906).

Shown in text as Scala platypleura Verco, 1906

Species Image

pp: 145. Plate IV. Fig. 6.

Scala platypleura, spec. nov. PL iv., fig. 6.

Species Image

pp: 145.

original description

Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931).

Shown in text as S. PLATYPLEURA Verco 1906

Species Image

pp: 13. Plate I. Fig. 1.

Species Image

pp: 6.

Synonymy:

Scala platypleura Verco, 1906 [Verco, 1906: 145; Brown & Neville, 2015: 123; Cotton & Godfrey, 1931: 6; Macpherson & Gabriel, 1962: 115]

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]
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931). South Australian Shells Part II. The South Australian Naturalist. 13(1). Field Naturalists Society of South Australia. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42129287 [Accessed 8 June 2025]
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]
Museums Victoria (2026). Museums Victoria provider for OZCAM. Occurrence dataset. Atlas of Living Australia. https://doi.org/10.15468/lp1ctu accessed via GBIF.org [Accessed 18 July 2026]
Verco, J.C. (1906). Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca, with descriptions of new species. Part IV.. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 30 Pt 4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16124267 [Accessed 19 June 2023]
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 at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record