Filiscala raricosta

(Lamarck, 1804)

Description:

Dimensions range from 5.4 mm - 25 mm high and 5.98 mm - 7.66 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 01.11:1 ~ 0.31:1

Shell: pyramidal, pointed; thin; minute to moderately small. Exterior colour white, costae white. About 12 whorls, convex, rounded whorls that bulge outward significantly, with the most prominent outer edge sitting around the middle; protoconch with ~3 whorls ; teleoconch with ~7 whorls. Suture impressed. Umbilicate: narrow, partially obscured by peristome. Approximately 17 - 25 costae on the body whorl. Costae are very fine or obsolete varices, some thick, and curved strong,, varices very few, rounded, crenated, slightly curved above the middle;, threadlike, irregularly spaced, low rounded ribs. There is a single varix on each whorl. The varix is with occasional thicker varices. Costae aligned on earlier whorls, but discontinuous on later whorls; not peaked; not reflexed; discontinuous across the suture. Intercostal spaces fine, evenly spaced radial threads. Interstices with approximately 20 spiral striae per whorl. Base with rounded striae. Aperture oval, ear-shaped, large; peristome thickened and reflected but incomplete; inner lip labium moderately expanded over umbilical opening.

Tryon [1887: 78] notes that Reeve's locality, West Indies, is erroneous.

Distribution:

Indo-West Pacific, India to Gulf of Oman [Ghosh et al, 2016:482]; Cocoss Keeling Islands [Maes, 1967:117]; Australia, Queensland south to Keppel Bay: [Wilson, 1990: 279]; Japan, southward from Kii Peninsular [Higo et al.,1999]; Philippines, Mauritius [Tryon, 1887:78]

Habitat:

offshore, 20-50 m., sandy mud

Etymology:

[latin] from rarus = scattered, far apart, seldom, rare or few and costatus = ribbed, in reference to the occasional expanded rib on the shell

Type Material:

Type: NHMUK 20100591 per Coan & Petit [2011: 39] [as Turbo martinii W. Wood, 1828, Supplement] - Type Locality: none given.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type not indicated in text [as Filiscala martinii (W. Wood, 1828)] - Type Locality: none designated. [Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y., 1999]
Holotype: NHMUK 20100591 [broken] [as Turbo martinii, W. Wood, 1828]. [Coan, E.V. & Petit, R.E., 2011]

arsint.com (2023).

Amaea Filiscala martinii

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Chemnitz, J. H. (1780).

Plate 153. Fig. 1435-1436.

Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822).

pp: 228.

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).

Shown in text as Scalaria martini

Plate xxxiv. Fig. 78.

pp: 93.

Tryon [1887: 78] notes that Reeve's locality, West Indies, is erroneous.

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii

Plate iii. Fig. 20.

Tryon, G.W. (1887).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii Wood, 1828

Plate 16. Fig. 5.

pp: 78.

Clessin, S. (1897).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii (W. Wood, 1828)

Plate 8. Fig. 9.

pp: 31.

Shell elevated, white, spirally striated; whorls numerous, rounded, contiguous; varices very few, rounded, crenulated, slightly arched above the middle; aperture somewhat auriform.

Kaicher, S.D. (1980).

Shown in text as Amaea martini (Wood)

Card #: EP1-2335.

A truly beautiful species; off-white and brown; with numerous well-spaced, narrow (often thread-like costae and a few varix-like ribs; interspaces strongly, spirally striate; to 25 mi.
Type species of genus/subgenus Filiscala.
QUEENSLAND

Card #: EP1-2335

Wilson, B.R. (1993).

Shown in text as Filiscala martini (Wood, 1828)

pp: 379. Fig. 21a-c.

Ghosh, A., Mukhopadhay, A. & Tripathy, B (2016).

pp: 482. Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Filiscala raricosta (Lamarck, 1804)

pp: 482. Fig. 3-4.

Fig. 3. Filiscala raricosta (Lamarck, 1804), Protoconch and sculpture of the body whorl

arsint.com (2023).

Amaea Filiscala martinii

Synonymy:

Amaea (Filiscala) martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B., 1999].
Amaea martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Kaicher, S.D., 1980].
Epitonium martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Maes, V. O., 1967].
Filiscala martini (Wood, 1828) [in Wilson, B.R., 1993].
Filiscala martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y., 1999].
Scalaria martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Clessin, S., 1897].
Scalaria martinii (W. Wood, 1828) [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1844].
Scalaria martinii Wood, 1828 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Scalaria striata Kiener, 1838: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Turbo martinii W. Wood, 1828, Supplement [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Turbo martinii, W. Wood, 1828 [in Coan, E.V. & Petit, R.E., 2011].

Source Literature:

arsint.com (2023). Shells for Sale:Epitonidae. arsint.com. http://www.arsint.com/seashells_epitoniidae_opalia.html [Accessed 21 October 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]
Chemnitz, J. H. (1780). Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet. Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet. 4. Nürnberg: Gabriel Nicolaus Raspe. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Neues_systematisches_Conchylien-Cabinet._Bd._04%2C_1780_%28IA_b30414994_0004%29.pdf [Accessed 20 March 2025]
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]
Coan, E.V. & Petit, R.E. (2011). The publications and malacological taxa of William Wood (1774-1857).. Malacologia. 54. http://dx.doi.org/10.4002/040.054.0109 [Accessed 25 October 2025]
Ghosh, A., Mukhopadhay, A. & Tripathy, B (2016). New Records of Two Epitoniids Cycloscala crenulata (Pease, 1896), Filiscala raricosta (Lamarck, 1804) (Gastropoda: EPITONIIDAE) From the West Coast of India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India. 116(4). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344238483_Short_Communication_NEW_RECORDS_OF_TWO_EPITONIIDS_CYCLOSCALA_CRENULATA_PEASE_1896_FILISCALA_RARICOSTA_LAMARK_1804_GASTROPODA_EPITONIIDAE_FROM_THE_WEST_COAST_OF_INDIA [Accessed 16 September 2023]
Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999). Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan.. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266375656_Catalogue_and_Bibliography_of_the_Marine_Shell-Bearing_Mollusca_of_Japan [Accessed 25 July 2025]
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]
Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres.. Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres.. 6(2). Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de.. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13181853 [Accessed 20 March 2025]
Maes, V. O. (1967). The Littoral Marine Mollusks of Cocos-Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 119. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064613 [Accessed 25 October 2025]
Murrell, T. (2023). personal description
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Monograph of the genus Scalaria.. Thesaurus conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells.. 1 (4). London, privately published.. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11076419 [Accessed 22 June 2023]
Tryon, G.W. (1887). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic with illustrations of the species. IX. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11026889 [Accessed 20 September 2025]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
Wilson, B.R. (1993). Australian Marine Shells. Australian Marine Shells. 1. Odessey Publications
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record

Filiscala raricosta

(Lamarck, 1804)

Description:

Distribution:

Indo-West Pacific, India to Gulf of Oman [Ghosh et al, 2016:482]; Cocoss Keeling Islands [Maes, 1967:117]; Australia, Queensland south to Keppel Bay: [Wilson, 1990: 279]; Japan, southward from Kii Peninsular [Higo et al.,1999]; Philippines, Mauritius [Tryon, 1887:78]

Habitat:

offshore, 20-50 m., sandy mud

Etymology:

[latin] from rarus = scattered, far apart, seldom, rare or few and costatus = ribbed, in reference to the occasional expanded rib on the shell

Type Material:

Distribution

Chemnitz, J. H. (1780).

Plate 153. Fig. 1435-1436.

Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822).

pp: 228.

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).

Shown in text as Scalaria martini

Plate xxxiv. Fig. 78.

pp: 93.

Tryon [1887: 78] notes that Reeve's locality, West Indies, is erroneous.

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii

Plate iii. Fig. 20.

Tryon, G.W. (1887).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii Wood, 1828

Plate 16. Fig. 5.

pp: 78.

Clessin, S. (1897).

Shown in text as Scalaria martinii (W. Wood, 1828)

Plate 8. Fig. 9.

pp: 31.

Shell elevated, white, spirally striated; whorls numerous, rounded, contiguous; varices very few, rounded, crenulated, slightly arched above the middle; aperture somewhat auriform.

Kaicher, S.D. (1980).

Shown in text as Amaea martini (Wood)

Card #: EP1-2335.

A truly beautiful species; off-white and brown; with numerous well-spaced, narrow (often thread-like costae and a few varix-like ribs; interspaces strongly, spirally striate; to 25 mi. Type species of genus/subgenus Filiscala. QUEENSLAND Card #: EP1-2335

Wilson, B.R. (1993).

Shown in text as Filiscala martini (Wood, 1828)

pp: 379. Fig. 21a-c.

Ghosh, A., Mukhopadhay, A. & Tripathy, B (2016).

pp: 482. Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Filiscala raricosta (Lamarck, 1804)

pp: 482. Fig. 3-4.

Fig. 3. Filiscala raricosta (Lamarck, 1804), Protoconch and sculpture of the body whorl

arsint.com (2023).

Amaea Filiscala martinii

Synonymy:

Source Literature:

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record

A truly beautiful species; off-white and brown; with numerous well-spaced, narrow (often thread-like costae and a few varix-like ribs; interspaces strongly, spirally striate; to 25 mi.
Type species of genus/subgenus Filiscala.
QUEENSLAND

Card #: EP1-2335