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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium tenellum

(Hutton, 1885)

Description:

Dimensions range from 9.86 mm - 22 mm high and 4.87 mm - 9 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.49:1 ~ 0.41:1

Shell: avergae width, moderately tall, elongate broadly oval; rather thin; small to moderately small. Exterior colour fawn or light brown, sometimes with a brown peripheral stripe around the base, costae white. About 8 whorls, rounded, connected; protoconch Apex missing. Umbilicate: very small, almost concealed by inner lip of aperture. Approximately 15 - 26 costae on the body whorl. Costae are low, thin, rounded, flattened on the last whorl. Costae not peaked; not continuous from whorl to whorl. Intercostal spaces smooth and shining. Base without basal chord. Aperture ovate; peristome almost complete, slightly flaring anteriorly; outer lip with normal rib externally. Operculum corneous.


Distribution:

Port Douglas, Queensland, NSW [Beechey, 2008] south to Western Port, Victoria [Macpherson & Gabriel, 1962:115] and Tasmania [Tate & May, 1901:379]; New Zealand [Hutton, 1885:943]


Habitat:

intertidal and shallow water to 27m, also in beach drift


Etymology:

[latin] from tenellus = diminutive form of tener, meaning tender or delicate


Type Material:

not located. [as Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936:] - Locality: Sydney Harbour, New South Wales.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Stuttgart Museum; possibly lost; not listed in the Museum's on-line type catalog. [as Scalaria novoseelandiae Clessin, 1897:] - Locality: Neuseeland, i.e., New Zealand.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Syntype: NMNZ M.000173 (possible syntype). [as Scalaria tenella Hutton, 1885: ~ Scalaria novoseelandiae Clessin, 1897 syn. n.; ~ Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936.] - Locality: Stewart's Island, Auckland, New Zealand.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Museum of New Zealand (2025).

Syntype Registration number
M.000173

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Hutton, F. W. (1885).
Species Image
pp: 943.
original description
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Epitonium novoseelandiae (Clessin, 1897)
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Plate 15. Fig. 4.
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pp: 57.
Iredale, T. (1936).
Shown in text as Limiscala helicornua, sp. novo
Species Image
Plate xxii. Fig. 11.
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pp: 299. Plate xxii.
Wilson, B.R. (1993).
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pp: 379. Plate Plat 44; fig 25.
Epitonium helicornuum (Iredale, 1936)
Beechey, D. (2008).
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pp: Epitonium tenellum. Fig. 1.
Bundeena, Port Hacking, NSW (C.169513)
Museum of New Zealand (2025).
Species Image
Syntype Registration number
M.000173

Synonymy:

Epitonium novoseelandiae (Clessin, 1897) [in Clessin, S., 1897].
Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936 [in Kaicher, S.D., 1980].
Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936 [in Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J., 1962].
Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Limiscala helicornua, sp. novo [in Iredale, T., 1936].
Scalaria novoseelandiae Clessin, 1897: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria tenella Hutton, 1885: ~ Scalaria novoseelandiae Clessin, 1897 syn. n.; ~ Limiscala helicornua Iredale, 1936. [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

Beechey, D. (2008). Shells NSW -Epitonium_tenellum. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Epitonium_tenellum.htm [Accessed 9 May 2023]
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]
Hutton, F. W. (1885). Revision of the marine taeniglossate and ptenoglossate Mollusca of New Zealand. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 9. Sydney Linnean Society of New South Wales. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/29978 [Accessed 15 March 2025]
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. (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]
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]
Museum of New Zealand (2025). Syntype Epitonium tenellum (Hutton, 1885) (M.000173). Museum of New Zealand
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