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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Cirsotrema fimbriolatum

(Melvill, 1897)

Description:

Dimensions range from 19 mm - 80 mm high and 5 mm - 14.5 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.26:1 ~ 0.18:1

Shell: slightly attenuated-fusiform, slender; delicate, thin; small to medium. Exterior colour white. About 14 whorls; protoconch with ~4 whorls white, glassy, very smooth; teleoconch with ~10 whorls with delicate, fringed, longitudinal double lamellae. Suture deeply impressed. Imperforate. Costae sharply angled at the sutures. Intercostal spaces interstices with spiral and axial threads creating reticulated pattern. Base Sharp angle below middle of final whorl, the base is spirally crenulated. Aperture round; peristome thickened, white, shining, continuous.


Distribution:

Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf, east to Japan; Hervey Bay, Queensland, and Broome WA, Australia


Habitat:

Intertidal to 79 m


Etymology:

[latin] from fimbria = a fringe, border, edge, in reference to the fringed appearance of the costae, [latin] from -olatum = a suffix implying posession


Type Material:

NHMUK 1897.7.30.90 (holotype) figured in L. Brown & Neville (2011: figs. 8-9). [as Scalaria fimbriolata Melvill, 1897:] - Locality: Karachi, Pakistan. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2011). pp: 83. Fig. 8-10.

8-9. Scalaria fimbriolata Melvill, 1897
length 19 mm, width 5 mm
Karachi, NHMUK 1897.7.30.90. (holotype).

10. Cirsotrema fimbriolatum (Melvill, 1897)
length 59.6 mm, width 14.5 mm
Broome, Western Australia, 15 m, B. Neville coll. no. 1256.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Melvill, J. C. (1897).
Species Image
Plate VI. Fig. 10.
Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2011).
Species Image
pp: 83. Fig. 12.
12. Cirsotrema fimbriolatum (Melvill, 1897)
length 59.6 mm, width 14.5 mm
Broome, Western Australia, 15 m, B. Neville coll. no. 1256.
Species Image
pp: 83. Fig. 8-10.
8-9. Scalaria fimbriolata Melvill, 1897
length 19 mm, width 5 mm
Karachi, NHMUK 1897.7.30.90. (holotype).

10. Cirsotrema fimbriolatum (Melvill, 1897)
length 59.6 mm, width 14.5 mm
Broome, Western Australia, 15 m, B. Neville coll. no. 1256.

Synonymy:

Scalaria fimbriolata Melvill, 1897: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2011). Nomenclatural notes on Amaea arabica (Nyst, 1871) comb. nov. and Cirsotremafimbriolatum (Melvill, 1897) (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae), two similar species from the Indo-Pacific faunal province. Novapex. 12(3-4)
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]
Melvill, J. C. (1897). Descriptions of thirty-four species of marine Mollusca from the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman.. Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Litterary and Philosophical Society. 41(7). Manchester Litterary and Philosophical Society. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35462101 [Accessed 5 March 2025]
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record