Header Image
Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium fucatum

(Pease, 1861)

Description:

Dimensions range from 6.5 mm - 15 mm high and 4 mm - 535 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.62:1 ~ 035.67:1

Shell: narrowly pyramidal, elongate; solid; minute to small. Exterior colour white, white, with a spiral brown band between ribs around middle of each whorl, costae white. About 14 whorls, rounded, separated; protoconch conical with 4-5 whorls ; teleoconch with 7-9 whorls strongly convex. Suture deep, fenestrate. Umbilicate: slightly fenestrated or almost closed. Approximately 7 - 10 costae on the body whorl. Costae are prosocline, strong, moderately thick, erect, distant, compressed, rather large, minutely rugose. Costae aligned; blunt or sharp coronation at the shoulder; somewhat to strongly reflexed at the suture; continuous across the suture. Intercostal spaces with spiral and axial microstriae forming reticulated sculpture. Fasciole narrow. Aperture roundly ovate; peristome thick, moderately expanded anteriorly. Operculum dark brown.


Distribution:

Kii Peninsula to Okinawa, Japan [Nakayama, 2003:55]; Hawaii; Papua New Guinea; Tanzania; South Africa, Natal [DuShane, 1990:7], Yemen [Abubakr, 2004:69]


Habitat:

shallow water, shallow water to 50 m [Nakayama, 2003:55]


Etymology:

[latin] from fucatum = painted or dyed possibly in reference to the brown spiral band which looks 'painted on' or decorative.


Type Material:

BMNH type collection 1961168 for Epitonium fucatum (Pease, 1861). [Kaicher, S.D., 1980]
Lectotype: NHMUK 1961168, designated by Kay (1965: 43). [as Scalaria fucata Pease, 1861: ~ Scala tangana Thiele, 1925.] - Locality: Sandwich Islands [=Hawaii].. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: ZMB 109295 [as Scala tangana Thiele, 1925] - Locality: 'vom demselben Fundort steht der Graciliscala histricosa Jouss. ... nahe' [Thiele, 1925:104], which would be 'Suez, Aden, Périm, Djibouti' [Jousseaume 1912: 206]; given as 'Tanga, Tanzania' by Kilburn [1985: 326], which is not included among the localities cited by Jousseaume. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Lectotype: MBNH No 1961168 for Epitonium fucatum (Pease, 1861) - Locality: Hawaii (Sandwich Islands).. [DuShane, H., 1990]
Types: Lectotype (here selected): B.M.(N.H.) Reg. No. 1961168. Length, 14 mm. ; diameter, 6 mm.; aperture length, 3 mm. Paralectotypes (1961169) : length, II mm.; diameter, 4 mm.; aperture length, 2.5 mm. [as Scalariafucata Pease, 1861]. [Kay, E.A., 1965]


SpeciesImage

DuShane, H. (1988). pp: 9.

Oahu,Hawaii;
length 8.0, mm, width 3.1 mm. Hemmes Collection.
Photo:Drape

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Pease, W.H. (1861).
Species Image
pp: 400.
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920).
Species Image
pp: 376. Plate 11. Fig. a.
Species Image
pp: 376.
Thiele, J. (1925).
Shown in text as Scala tangana Thiele, 1925
Species Image
Plate 11. Fig. 11.
Species Image
pp: 138.
Scala tangana n. sp.
(Plate 11, Figure 11.)
A shell from the same locality is closely related to Graciliscala histricosa Jouss. (Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France, vol. 24, p. 206, pl. 6, figs. 9-16), but it has a greater number of lamellae. The interspaces are brownish and finely latticed.
The high-conical shell consists of nine whorls, the first of which are smooth and pointed, while the subsequent whorls are covered with fine spiral lines and still finer descending cross-lines, forming a lattice sculpture. They bear ten moderately broad lamellae, slightly bent backward and drawn out into sharp angles above. The lower whorls do not touch one another.
The aperture is roundish-oval, the outer lip pressed against the ribs on the left.
Height: 9.5 mm; Diameter: 4.3 mm.
Kay, E.A. (1965).
Shown in text as Scalariafucata Pease, 1861
Species Image
Plate 6. Fig. 11-12.
Scalaria fucata Pease, Lectotype, 14 x 6 mm.
Species Image
pp: 44.
selection of lectotype
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
Species Image
Card #: EP1-2330.
Kilburn, R.N (1985).
Species Image
150 NM B7I10. Durban Bay. 10.5x4,6 mm,
Dushane, H. (1988).
Species Image
pp: 9.
Oahu,Hawaii;
length 8.0, mm, width 3.1 mm. Hemmes Collection.
Photo:Drape
Species Image
pp: 9.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 135. Plate 16. Fig. 12.
figs 12-14: Epitonium (Laeviscala) fucatum (Pease, 1861)
height 6.5 mm; breadth 3.2 mm (MC); fig. 14, surface sculpture
Species Image
pp: 135. Plate 16. Fig. 13.
figs 12-14: Epitonium (Laeviscala) fucatum (Pease, 1861)
height 6.5 mm; breadth 3.2 mm (MC); fig. 14, surface sculpture
Bonfitto, A. (2018).
Species Image
pp: 127. Plate 5. Fig. J-K.

Synonymy:

Laeviscala fucata (Pease,1861) [in DuShane, H., 1988].
Scala tangana Thiele, 1925 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scala tangana Thiele, 1925 [in Thiele, J., 1925].
Scalaria fucata Pease, 1861: ~ Scala tangana Thiele, 1925. [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalariafucata Pease, 1861 [in Kay, E.A., 1965].


Source Literature:

Abubakr, M., M. (2004). The Republic of Yemen Marine Biotic Ecosystem (Resources, Habitats, and Species). The Republic of Yemen Ministry of Water and Environmnet and Environment Protction Authority. https://ye.chm-cbd.net/sites/ye/files/2022-05/Marine%20species%20in%20Yemen.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2025]
Bonfitto, A. (2018). New species of Epitoniidae (Gastropoda: Epitonioidea) from the Red Sea. Molluscan Research. 38:2. Taylor 7 Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/13235818.2017.1385168 [Accessed 26 August 2023]
Brown, L. (2010). Report on the Epitoniidae of the East China Sea - Part 2. American Conchologist: quarterly bulletin of the Conchologists of America, Inc. 38 (3). Lipps-National Pres. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/262812 [Accessed 23 July 2025]
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]
DuShane, H. (1988). Hawaiian Epitoniidae pt.5. Hawaiian Shell News. 36(11). https://www.conchology.be/?t=5002&year=1988&volume=11&hsn=10345 [Accessed 16 September 2023]
DuShane, H. (1990). Hawaiian Epitoniidae. Hawaiian Shell News. 38(Sup.1). Hawaiian Malacological Society
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]
Kay, E.A. (1965). Marine Molluscs in the Cuming Collection, British Museum (Natural History) Described by William Harper Pease. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Zoology Series, supplement 1. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/156261 [Accessed 12 November 2025]
Kilburn, R.N (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
Pease, W.H. (1861). Descriptions of seventeen new species of marine shells, from the Sandwich Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 28. Zoological Society of London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46225 [Accessed 15 March 2025]
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920). Marine Mollusks of Hawaii: XIV, XV. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 72. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/84996 [Accessed 4 June 2025]
Thiele, J. (1925). Gastropoden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition. II Teil. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer "Valdivia" 1898-1899.. 17(2). https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/3NJJP6TFO3ZWXZDRTI2CZV66VP76UDWR [Accessed 26 October 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