Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium grayi

(Nyst, 1871)

Description:

Dimensions range from 30.2 mm - 38 mm high and 16.9 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.56:1 ~ 0.44:1

Shell: conical, turreted; very fragile; moderately small. Exterior colour white. About 9 whorls. Suture simple. Umbilicate. Costae are rather close, thin, equal. Costae not coronate. Intercostal spaces minutely, closely and regularly spirally striated, with minute, regular spiral striae. Aperture ovate.

Distribution:

Makassar, Sth Sulawesi, Indonesia [Kokshoorn et al., 2007:44]; Flores Sea, Indonesia [Brown & Neville, 2015:64]; Port Essington, Northern Territory, Australia [Gray, 1847:358].

Habitat:

3-30m, in sand/rubble under host anemone including: Heteractis crispa , Macrodactyla doreensis, and Stichodactyla haddoni [Kokshoorn et al., 2007:44].

Etymology:

No etymology is provided in the original source documents; however, based on the Latin genitive suffix "-i", the name most likely honours a man with the surname Gray. Most possibly John Edward Gray [1800-1875] -the British zoologist, shell collector, and malacologist.

Type Material:

Kokshoorn et al. [2007:44], commentiing on Epitonium ancillottoi Cossignani & Cossignani, 1998, states it differs from E. irregulare which has smooth intertitial spaces where as E. ancillottoi had dense spiral sculpture.

Syntypes: MNHN 1769, ZMB 299 [as Scala dubia 'G.B. Sowerby II' de Boury, 1912] - Type Locality: Port Essington (nord de l'Australie) and Florès (Océanie).. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type not located [as Scalaria striata Gray, 1847: ~ Scalaria grayi Nyst, 1871] - Type Locality: Port Essington, Australia.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype, paratype 1: Museo Malacologico Piceno, Cupra Marittima; Paratypes 2, 3, in colin Cossignani [as Epitonium ancillottoi Cossignani & Cossignani, 1998] - Type Locality: 'Australia, Filippine'. [Kokshoorn, B., Gittenberger, J. & Gittenberger, A, 2007]

SpeciesImage

Gray, J. E. (1847). Plate 2. Fig. 6.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Gray, J. E. (1847).

Shown in text as Scalaria striata Gray, 1847 ·

Species Image

Plate 2. Fig. 6.

Species Image

pp: 358.

Nyst, H. (1873).

Species Image

pp: 12.

Species Image

pp: 113.

Synonymy:

Epitonium ancillottoi Cossignani & Cossignani, 1998 [in Kokshoorn, B., Gittenberger, J. & Gittenberger, A, 2007].
Scala dubia 'G.B. Sowerby II' de Boury, 1912 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria striata Gray, 1847 [in Gray, J. E., 1847].
Scalaria striata Gray, 1847: ~ Scalaria grayi Nyst, 1871 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].

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]
Gray, J. E. (1847). Description of some new species of marine shells. Appendix X, In:. Jukes, J. B, Narrative of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Fly, commanded by Captain F.P. Blackwood, R.N., in Torres Strait, New Guinea, and other islands of the Eastern Archipelago, during the year 1842-1846 together with an excursion into the interior of the eastern part of Java. 2. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39170841 [Accessed 12 July 2025]
Kilburn, R.N. (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
Kokshoorn, B., Gittenberger, J. & Gittenberger, A (2007). Epitoniid parasites (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Epitoniidae) and their host sea anemones (Cnidaria,Actiniaria,Ceriantharia) in the Spermonde archipelago, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Basteria. 71(1-3)
Nyst, H. (1873). Tableau synoptique et synonymique des espèces vivantes et fossiles du genre Scalaria décrites par les auteurs, avec l'indication des pays de provenance ainsi que des dépôts dans lesquels les espèces fossiles ont été recueillies. Mémoires de la Société Malacologique de Belgique.. 6. Société Malacologique de Belgique. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43230278 [Accessed ]
WoRMS Editorial Board, (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record