Header Image
Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium barissum

(Iredale, 1936)

Description:

Dimensions range from 16.59 mm - 20 mm high and 5.9 mm - 8 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.36:1 ~ 0.4:1

Shell: slender, elegantly awl-shaped; light, thin; small. Exterior colour white to dirty white, greyish white. About 13 whorls, quite rounded, connected; protoconch with ~3 whorls elongate glassy whorls; teleoconch with ~10 whorls. Umbilicate: narrow but distinct, almost concealed by inner lip of aperture. Approximately 28 - 50 costae on the body whorl. Costae are low, delicate, some thickened and strong. Costae discontinuous; not peaked, but Weil et al. [1999:132] describe the species with small peaks below the suture ; some recurved. Intercostal spaces fine spiral threads. Interstices with approximately 20 spiral striae per whorl. Aperture ovate; peristome complete; outer lip with normal rib externally, thin; inner lip a little bit reflected, just joins the outerlip to complete the peristome. Operculum dark brown.


Distribution:

Northern Territory, Queensland, to Sydney Harbour New South Wales, Australia [Beechey, 2008c]. Weil et al. [1999:132] extend the range to South Australia, however,Beechey [2009:4] comments there is no evidence for this.


Habitat:

shallow water [Weil et al., 1999:132].


Etymology:

.


Type Material:

Holotype: AMS C57741 [as Folaceiscala barissa Iredale, 1936] - Type Locality: Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 43]
Holotype: Australian Museum, C.60653 [as Foliaceiscala barissa Iredale, 1936] - Type Locality: Australia, New South Wales, Sydney Harbour (33° 51' 00' S, 151° 14' 00' E) 1928 - 1929, Comtesse, Captain D L(Collector), Dredged.. [Australian Museum, 2026: C.60653]


SpeciesImage

Iredale, T. (1936). Plate xxii. Fig. 15.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Iredale, T. (1936).
Species Image
Plate xxii. Fig. 15.
Species Image
pp: 300. Plate xxii.
original description
Beechey, D. (2008).
Species Image
pp: Epitonium barissum. Fig. 1.
Holotype: Sydney Harbour, dredge Triton. (C.060653)
Australian Museum (2026).
Shown in text as Foliaceiscala barissa Iredale, 1936
Species Image
Epitonium barissum (Iredale, 1936)
Holotype: C.60653
Australia, New South Wales, Sydney Harbour (33° 51' 00" S, 151° 14' 00" E) 1928 - 1929, Comtesse, Captain D L(Collector), Dredged.
Australian Museum. Photograph: M. Allen.
Copyright Australian Museum. Released under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC 4.0.

Synonymy:

Folaceiscala barissa Iredale, 1936 [Brown & Neville, 2015: 43]
Foliaceiscala barissa Iredale, 1936 [Australian Museum, 2026: C.60653]


Source Literature:

Australian Museum (2026). Australian Museum provider for OZCAM. Occurrence dataset. Atlas of Living Australia. https://doi.org/10.15468/e7susi accessed via GBIF.org [Accessed 18 July 2026]
Beechey, D. (2008c). Epitonium_barissum. Seashells of NSW. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Epitonium_barissum.htm [Accessed 9 May 2023]
Beechey, D. (2009). The Wentletrap Book - a partial review . Malacological Society of Australasia Newsletter. 135. https://www.malsocaus.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/MSA135.pdf [Accessed 29 March 2026]
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]
Hutchings, P. & Ahyong, S. & Ashcroft, M. & Mcgrouther, Mark & Reid, A. (2013). Sydney Harbour: its diverse biodiversity. Australian Zoologist. 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2012.031 [Accessed 28 February 2026]
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. (1981). Epitoniidae II [Pack 30]. S. D. Kaicher, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.femorale.com/kaicher/species.asp?f=Epitoniidae&c=125 [Accessed 8 May 2023]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
Wilson, B.R. (1993). Australian Marine Shells. Australian Marine Shells. Vol.1. Odessey Publications
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record