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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Amaea diluta

Garcia, 2003

Description:

Dimensions range from 18.9 mm - 19 mm high and 7.7 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.41:1 ~ 0.41:1

Shell: Pyramidal; small. Exterior colour off-white, with amber colour present on the protoconch. About 4.5 whorls, very convex, forming a pre-sutural and a sub-sutural shoulder; protoconch with ~4.5 whorls translucent, conical, amber in colour, with reddish-brown line below suture; teleoconch with 8.5 whorls. Suture deep suture. Imperforate: umbilicus closed. Approximately 47 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thin, erect, frilled, there are no varicoidal costae. Costae form a deep, fenestrate pattern when crossing over suture. Intercostal spaces strong, well-defined spiral cords forming a fenestrate pattern when joining the costae. Interstices with approximately 8 - 12 spiral striae per whorl. Base round, without basal ridge or disk. Aperture round. Operculum unknown.


Distribution:

off Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia.


Habitat:

223-225 m [Garcia, 2003]


Etymology:

[latin] from dilutus = thin, weak, a reference to the thinness of the shell wall


Type Material:

Holotype: MNHN length 18.9 mm, width 7.7 mm. for Amaea diluta Garcia, 2003 - Type Locality: Indonesia, off Tanimbar Islands, 09° 26'S, 131913'E, at 223- 225 m [KARUBAR, sta. CP861. [Garcia, E.F., 2003]
Holotype: MNHN 4240 for Amaea diluta Garcia, 2003 - Type Locality: KARUBAR station CP86, off Tanimbar Is., Indonesia, 09o 26'S, 131o 13'E, 223-225 m. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Garcia, E.F. (2003). pp: 4. Fig. 1-3.

1-3; Amaea diluta n. sp. Indonesia, off Tanimbar Islands, 09° 26'S, 13ri3'E, at 223- 225 m [KARUBAR sta. CP86].
Holotype (MNHN) length 18.9 mm, width 7.7 mm. 4

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Garcia, E.F. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 4. Fig. 1-3.
1-3; Amaea diluta n. sp. Indonesia, off Tanimbar Islands, 09° 26'S, 13ri3'E, at 223- 225 m [KARUBAR sta. CP86].
Holotype (MNHN) length 18.9 mm, width 7.7 mm. 4

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]
Garcia, E.F. (2003). New records of Indo-Pacific Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with the description of nineteen new specie. Novapex. 4 (Hors-série 1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42322472 [Accessed 26 August 2023]
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record