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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium alatum

(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 8.8 mm - 25 mm high and 6 mm - 12 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.68:1 ~ 0.48:1

Shell: stout, conical, pyramidal; rather solid; small to moderately small. Exterior colour generally white, but may be diffusley brown banded, costae white. About 11 whorls, loosley coliled, connected across the suture, separate whorls; protoconch with ~2 whorls ; teleoconch with 5-9 whorls. Suture slightly fenestrated. Umbilicate: fenestrated. Approximately 6 - 10 costae on the body whorl. Costae are prominent, erect, sharp-edged, laminated, broad, distant,. Costae hooked, expanded into an elevated lobe near the suture; slightly recurved; connected across the suture. Intercostal spaces smooth, with minute spiral striae. Aperture oval with a somewhat square margin, lip wide, hooked at the suture; peristome complete.


Distribution:

indo-West Pacific; Hawaii; Pacific coast Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia; Australia, Queensland south to Yeppoon [Wilson, 1993,276]; Cocos


Habitat:

intertidal to deep water [150m], fine sand with mud


Etymology:

[latin] from alatus = having wings or winged


Type Material:

NHMUK 1981039 (syntypes). [as Scalaria alata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844:] - Type Locality: Catanuan, Luzon, Philippines.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Murrell (2025).

East Coast O'ahu, Hawaii.
Sand in 1m of water.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria alata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844:
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Plate xxxii. Fig. 10, 11.
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pp: 84.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
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Plate iii. Fig. 15.
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Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria alata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)
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Plate 11. Fig. 40.
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pp: 55.
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
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Card #: EP1-2287.
Card #: EP1-2287
Wilson, B.R. (1993).
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Plate 44. Fig. 2.
Plate 44 fig 2
Nakayama, T. (2003).
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pp: 125. Plate 11. Fig. 22-23.
figs 22-24: Epitonium (Lamelliscala) alatum (Sowerby, 1844)
height 8.8 mm; breadth 5.0 mm (NA); fig. 24, protoconch
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pp: 125. Plate 11. Fig. 21.
figs 22-24: Epitonium (Lamelliscala) alatum (Sowerby, 1844)
height 8.8 mm; breadth 5.0 mm (NA); fig. 24, protoconch
Murrell (2025).
Species Image
East Coast O'ahu, Hawaii.
Sand in 1m of water.
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Synonymy:

Epitonium alata (Sowerby, 1844) [in Maes, V. O., 1967].
Scalaria alata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Scalaria alata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria alata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844: [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1844].
Scalaria alata G.B. Sowerby II, 1844: [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1873].


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]
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]
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]
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 (2025). Personal Collection
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
Schepman, M.M. (1909). The Prosobranchia of the Siboga Expedition. Part 2. Taenioglossa and Ptenoglossa. E.J. Brill,Leyden. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34314807 [Accessed 27 July 2025]
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]
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873). Monograph of the genus Scalaria. Conchologia iconica, or illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 19, pls 1-16 and unpaginated text.. 19. London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8217819 [Accessed 24 August 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