Epitonium candeanum
(d'Orbigny, 1842)
Description:
Dimensions range from 2 mm - 15 mm high and 1 mm - 6 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.5:1 ~ 0.4:1
Shell: pyramidal, elongate, conical; thick; microscopic to small. Exterior colour more or less uniform dull white to a light or reddish brown, often with two faint chestnut bands, costae white. About 13 whorls, rounded, elevated, attached; protoconch with ~8 whorls smooth; teleoconch with 3-5 whorls. Spire with angle of 35 - 40 degrees. Suture deeply impressed. Imperforate: with a small parietal shield extending over the umbilical area. Approximately 12 - 25 costae on the body whorl. Costae are strong, blade-like, on the body whorl these costae pass below the parietal shield and into the umbilicus and above they extend well into the suture, a factor causing the whorls to become nearly separated, mostly thin, some thick, strong, blade-like the costae pass below the parietal shield and into the umbilicus and above they extend well into the suture. Occasional may show rare, distant varices varix appearing randomly on the shell. Costae sometimes develop small angles ore spine at the shoulder; occasionally reflected; continuous. Intercostal spaces numerous, fine, distinct ridges which are crossed by exceedingly fine axial threads. Base without basal ridge. Columella short and arched. Aperture oval, small; outer lip thickened and somewhat expanded. Operculum paucispiral, thin and yellowish-brown.
Sowerby's description was composite: he applied the name 'turricula' to two very different specimens., E.A. Smith, 1890 clarified that:, Scalaria turricula sensu Sowerby (pl. 34, fig. 88) should be restricted to the West Indian specimen = S. candeana., The Catanuan (Philippines) specimen (pl. 33, fig. 61) represented a different species, which he named S. confusa [now Epitonium umbilicatum (Pease, 1869)]
Distribution:
Entire Gulf of Mexico [Rosenberg et al., 2009:641], Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and south through the Lesser Antilles to Barbados [Clench & Turner, 1952: ], Brazil to Uruguay [Rios, 1985:156]
Habitat:
intertidal to 734 m (Clench & Turner 1952: 303).
Etymology:
Named in honour of Mr. de Candé who was a 19th-century French malacologist known for his contributions to the study of Caribbean molluscs. Mr. de Candé is credited with collecting specimens from various Caribbean islands, including Jamaica and Saint Thomas, which were subsequently described in d'Orbigny's publications
Type Material:
Types: the types of this species are probably in the British Museum. The type locality is here restricted to Kingston, Jamaica, a locality from which we have seen specimens. for Epitonium candeanum (d'Orbigny, 1842). [Clench, W. J. & Turner, R. D., 1952b]
Type: NHMUK (Gray 1854a: 18) [as Scalaria candeana d'Orbigny, 1842: ~ Scalaria turricula G.B. Sowerby II, 1844b [in part]; ~ Scalaria turrita Nyst, 1871; ~ Scala antillarum de Boury, 1909a.] - Type Locality: Jamaica and St. Thomas; type locality restricted to Kingston, Jamaica in Clench & Turner (1952: 302). [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Lectotype and paralectotypes: USNM 108017 [as Epitonium marcoense Dall, 1927] - Type Locality: off Fernandina, off Georgia, beach at Marco, Fla.; Clench & Turner (1951: 304) restricted the type locality to ALBATROSS station 2668, off Fernandina, Florida, 30° 58'N, 79° 38'W, 294 fms [which Dall (1927: 1) gives as '678 m'].. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type: Lately in the collection of Mr. A. Adams; current location unknown [as Scalaria nuda G.B. Sowerby II, 1874] - Type Locality: not designated. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Syntypes: NHMUK 1981211 [as Scalaria turricula G.B. Sowerby, II, 1844: ~ Scalaria turrita Nyst, 1871.] - Type Locality: West Indies and Catanuan Island, Luzon, Philippines. Sowerby was obviously describing two different species. Nyst (1871: 142) recognised the homonymy of Sowerby's name and replaced it with Scalaria turrita, giving a locality of 'Indes occidentales', but did not address the composite nature.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1842). Plate XI. Fig. 28.
Distribution
as listed in source literature
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1842).
Plate XI. Fig. 28.
Plate XI. Fig. 29-30.
pp: 20.
Shell conical, imperforate, thin, whitish, ornamented with narrow, uneven, numerous ribs; spire elongated; whorls convex, finely striated transversely and longitudinally.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate xxxiii. Fig. 61.
Catanuan Isl. Luzon, Philippines
E.A. Smith, 1890 states The Catanuan (Philippines) specimen (pl. 33, fig. 61) represented a different species, which he named S. confusa.
Plate xxxiv. Fig. 88.
West Indies.
E.A. Smith, 1890 states that Scalaria turricula sensu Sowerby (pl. 34, fig. 88) should be restricted to the West Indian specimen = S. candeana.
pp: 92.
T. elongated, umbilicated, often finely striated transversely; with numerous, rounded whorls, gradually increasing; with sub-numerous varices, mostly thin, some thick; oval, small aperture; white or irregularly fulvous in colour.
Gray, J.E., Orbigny, A,D,d', & British Museum Natural History (1854).
pp: 18.
record of specimen from Cuba held in BMNH
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria nuda G. B. Sowerby II, 1874
Plate xiv. Fig. 110a.
Plate xiv. Fig. 110b.
Shell shortly pyramidal, thick, smooth; lightly ribbed, partly flattened below, armed with very rare, distant varices.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate viii. Fig. 59a.
Plate viii. Fig. 59b.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875a).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
pp: 262-263.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875a).
Shown in text as Scala candeana A. d'Orbigny, 1842
pp: 264.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875b).
Shown in text as Scala candeana A. d'Orbigny, 1842
pp: 150.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875b).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
pp: 150.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844, Scalaria nuda G. B. Sowerby II, 1874
Plate 16. Fig. 13.
Plate 13. Fig. 6.
pp: 79.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria candeana A. d'Orbigny, 1842
Plate 16. Fig. 96.
pp: 77.
Smith, E. A. (1890).
pp: 273.
Clarification of Sowerby's [1844] composite description
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria nuda G. B. Sowerby II, 1874
Plate 7. Fig. 9-10.
pp: 28-9.
T. short, pyramidal, thick, smooth, slightly costellate (with small ribs), somewhat flattened below; armed with very rare, widely spaced varices.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate 7. Fig. 2-3.
pp: 26.
Narrow, pyramidal, umbilicate shell, very finely spirally striated, yellowish-reddish in colour between the varices; whorls numerous, elevated, and contiguous; varices frequent, white, mostly thin, with some thicker; aperture ovate, small.
Shell narrow, pyramidal, umbilicate, very finely spirally striated, yellowish-reddish between the longitudinal ribs; whorls numerous, fairly high, connected; longitudinal ribs numerous, white, sometimes very thin, never strong; aperture egg-shaped, small.
Habitat: West Indies.
Clench, W. J. & Turner, R. D. (1952b).
pp: 303. Plate 141. Fig. 1-2.
Lake Worth, Florida (Fig. 1, about 10x; Fig. 2, 16x).
