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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Eglisia spirata

(Sowerby I, 1825)

Description:

Dimensions range from 26.6 mm - 43 mm high and 12.36 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 00:1 ~ 0.29:1

Shell: turrited, apex obtuse; moderately small to medium. Exterior colour whitish, longitudinally brown-banded. About 12 whorls; teleoconch transversely ribbed. Suture conspicuously flattened depression near the suture at the top. Aperture somewhat round; outer lip intact, straight.

Coan et al. [2015:39] note that 'this is a West African species sometimes incorrectly listed as also occurring in the western Atlantic' . However, Tryon [1887] give St Thomas as a location.


Distribution:

western Africa; St. Thomas, W. Indies.


Habitat:

offshore to 200 m


Etymology:

[latin] from spiratus = coiled, spiraled


Type Material:

not located. for Eglisia spirata (Sowerby I, 1825) - Type Locality: Saint Thomas.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type material not located in NHMUK in 2010 [as Turbo suturalis W. Wood, 1828]. [Coan, E. & Lutaenko, K. & ZHANG, J. & Sun, Q., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Poppe, G.T. & Poppe, P. (2020).

Senegal
26.6mm

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. I. (1825).
Shown in text as Turritella spirata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825
Species Image
pp: appendix xiv.
Original Description
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Eglisa spirata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825
Species Image
Plate 18. Fig. 38.
Species Image
pp: 86.
Poppe, G.T. & Poppe, P. (2020).
Species Image
Senegal
26.6mm

Synonymy:

Eglisa spirata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Turbo suturalis W. Wood, 1828 [in Coan, E. & Lutaenko, K. & ZHANG, J. & Sun, Q., 2015].
Turritella spirata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825 [in Sowerby, G. B. I., 1825].


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]
Coan, E. & Lutaenko, K. & ZHANG, J. & Sun, Q. (2015). The molluscan taxa of A. W. Grabau & S. G. King (1928) and their types. Malacologia. 58(1-2). 10.4002/040.058.0206. [Accessed 21 June 2025]
Poppe, G.T. & Poppe, P. (2020). Image Eglisia spirata. Conchology. https://www.conchology.be/?t=68&u=1208109&g=a1d7fc7026794720d2a26022a94d20d3&q=cb5cc3b4f7a2a31e63d8984ce3c2c7a5 [Accessed 1 June 2025]
Sowerby, G. B. I. (1825). Catalogue Tankerville Collection. Catalogue Tankerville Collection. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27372421
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