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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium coretum

(Iredale, 1936)

Description:

Dimensions range from 10 mm - 16.96 mm high and 4.5 mm - 6.13 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.45:1 ~ 0.36:1

Shell: slender, tall, acuminate, elongate; small. Exterior colour white, costae white. About 12 whorls, rounded, disconnected, joined only by costae; protoconch turbinate with ~4 whorls shining white; teleoconch with 7-8 whorls rounded. Suture deeply impressed, fenestrated. Imperforate: umbilicus closed, however Weil et al. [1999:132] describes the umbilicus as being narrowly open. Approximately 8 - 12 costae on the body whorl. Costae are high, thin with sharp edges. Costae aligned from whorl to whorl; hooked at the shoulders; slightly reflected. Intercostal spaces may be smooth or have very faint striae. Base without basal rib. Columella with margins thick and slightly reflexed. Aperture mouth free, ovate; peristome complete; outer lip thick, with normal rib externally. Operculum corneous.

This species resembles E. (Hirtoscala) philippinarum, but differs from it by having intercostal spiral striae, a key character of this subgenus. [Nakayama, 2003:63]


Distribution:

Australia and Japan. In Australia, Crowdy Head, NSW, southwards and around southern Australia to southern WA [Beechey, 2008, & Wilson, 1993:276]; off Choshi, Boso Peninsula, Japan [Nakayama, 2003:63].


Habitat:

subtidal, down to 180 m, also known from specimens in beach wash-up [Beechey, 2008].


Etymology:

.


Type Material:

Holotype: Australian Museum: C.60647 [as Acutiscala coreta Iredale, 1936] - Type Locality: Australia, New South Wales, Off Green Cape (37° 16' 00' S, 150° 13' 00' E) 1936 - 1936, Accession. [Australian Museum, 2026: C.60647]


SpeciesImage

Iredale, T. (1936). Plate xxii. Fig. 9.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Iredale, T. (1936).
Shown in text as Acutiscala coreta Iredale, 1936
Species Image
Plate xxii. Fig. 9.
Species Image
pp: 298. Plate xxii.
original description
Beechey, D. (2008h).
Species Image
pp: Epitonium coretum. Fig. 1.
Epitonium coretum (Iredale, 1936)
Holotype: C.060647
Australian Museum
Off Green Cape, NSW
128 m
Australian Museum (2026).
Shown in text as Acutiscala coreta Iredale, 1936
Species Image
Fig. C.60647.
Epitonium coretum (Iredale, 1936)
Holotype: C.60647
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:

Acutiscala coreta Iredale, 1936 [Iredale, 1936: 298; Australian Museum, 2026: C.60647]
Epitonium (Parviscala) coretum (Iredale, 1936) [Nakayama, 2003: 63]
Epitonium [Acutiscala] coreta Iredale, 1936 [Brown & Neville, 2015: 57]


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. (2008h). Epitonium_coretum. Seashells of NSW. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Epitoniidae/Pages/Epitonium_coretum.htm [Accessed 9 May 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]
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. (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]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
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