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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epifungium twilae

(A. Gittenberger & Goud, 2000)

Description:

Dimensions range from 15 mm - 21 mm high.
Width to height ratio: 00:1 ~ 00:1

Shell: broad, conical; very fragile; small to moderately small. Exterior colour creamy white, pale fawn. About 12.5 whorls; protoconch with 3.25-3.5 whorls with numerous very fine, incised, axial lines; teleoconch with ~9 whorls straight-sided. Suture shallow. Umbilicate: very narrow. Approximately 19 - 36 costae on the body whorl. Costae are unevenly spaced, fine, orthocline, almost obselete. Costae discontinuous; not or hardly touching the adjoining whorls. Intercostal spaces with low spiral threads that are separated by interspaces. Aperture subcircular. Operculum paucispiral.


Distribution:

Queensland, Australia; Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand; Maldives; and Red Sea, Egypt


Habitat:

5-38m. Recorded on: Ctenactis echinata, Herpolitha limax, Sandalolitha dentata Quelch, 1884, S. robusta (Quelch, 1886) and Zoopilus echinatus Dana, 1846.


Etymology:

named for Mrs. Twila Bratcher., This species is named after Mrs. Twila Bratcher, of Los Angeles, California, USA, who first differentiated the new taxon from E. bullatum.


Type Material:

Holotype NNM 59104, from Indonesia, Sulawesi, off Ujung Pandang, W. Bone Baku, 6 m.
Paratypes: NNM 59149/1, Indonesia, Sulawesi, off Ujung Pandang: W. Lae-Lae, 7 m; NNM 59148/2, 9 m; NNM 59145/1, type locality, 3 m; NNM 59105/1, 59138/3, 6 m; NNM 59127/1, 59129/1, 59141/10, 59147/1, 59150/2, 9 m; NNM 59126/1, 59142/1, 59143/1, 12 m; MNM 59146, 15 m; NNM 59139, ESE Samalona, 5 m; NNM 59131/4, 12 m; NNM 59140/5, 13 m; NNM 59116/1, 59117/1, 59132/3, 59133/2, 59134/1, 59135/1, W. Samalona, 9 m; NNM 59121/1, 59122/1, 12 m; NNM 59118/1, 15 m; NNM 59151/1, E. Kudingareng Keke, 9 m; NNM 59106/1, 59107/1, W. Kudingareng Keke, 9 m; NNM 59115/3, 10 m; NNM 59113/1, 59114/1, 12 m; NNM 59108/1, 59109/1, 59110/1, 59111/2, 59112/1, 15 m; NNM 59123/1, 59124/1, 18 m; NNM 59152/1, 59153/1, 24 m; NNM 59137/1, NW Lankai, 12 m; NNM 59159/5, Pulau Badi, 25 m; NNM 59161/2, Bone Lola, 8 m; NNM 59160/1, 9 m; NNM 59154/2, 59155/2, 59156/2, 59163/1, Bone Tambung, 5 m; NNM 59157/1, 22 m. [as Epitonium twilae A. Gittenberger & Goud, 2000]. [Gittenberger, A., Goud & Gittenberger, E., 2000]


SpeciesImage

Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005). pp: 170. Fig. 88.

Epifungium twilae, SW Sulawesi, Indonesia
paratype

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Gittenberger, A., Goud & Gittenberger, E. (2000).
Shown in text as Epitonium twilae A. Gittenberger & Goud, 2000
Species Image
pp: 101. Fig. 32-33.
32-33, E. twilae new species, holotype, NNM 59104,
length 1.5 cm.
Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005).
Species Image
pp: 170. Fig. 88.
Epifungium twilae, SW Sulawesi, Indonesia
paratype
Species Image
pp: 170. Fig. 89.
Epifungium twilae, SW Sulawesi, Indonesia
holotype.
Species Image
pp: 176. Fig. 131.
T5 Teleoconch whorls

Synonymy:

Epitonium twilae A. Gittenberger & Goud, 2000 [in Gittenberger, A., Goud & Gittenberger, E., 2000].


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]
Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005). A hitherto unnoticed adaptive radiation: epitoniid species (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) associated with corals (Scleractinia).. Contributions to Zoology. 74(1-2). Contributions to Zoology. http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/43091 [Accessed 16 July 2023]
Gittenberger, A., Goud & Gittenberger, E. (2000). Epitonium (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) associated with mushroom corals (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia, with the description of four new species.. The Nautilus. 114(1). The Nautilus. http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/128726.pdf [Accessed 8 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