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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium umbilicatum

(Pease, 1869)

Description:

Dimensions range from 7.8 mm - 25 mm high and 3.5 mm - 5.5 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.45:1 ~ 0.22:1

Shell: elongate, turreted; somewhat thin; small to moderately small. Exterior colour white or pale brownish with darker blotches. About 14 whorls, convex, rounded, polished, contiguous; protoconch conical with ~3 whorls gently convex; teleoconch with ~11 whorls. Suture deep but simple. Umbilicate: moderately wide, with costae entering the umbilicus. Approximately 9 - 14 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thin, small. Costae not aligned; slightly reflexed; not continuous. Intercostal spaces smooth and glossy, with fine, impressed stria. Columella rather straight, slightly covering the umbilicus. Aperture ovate; peristome fairly thin.

According to Brown & Neville (2015: 55), no holotype was selected for Scalaria confusa E.A. Smith, 1890 by Smith (1890: 273) but he included several specimens in the initial type series. Kilburn (1985: 301) allocated a specimen as a holotype, but this is not a valid designation as it can only be made in the original (i.e. Sowerby's) publication. Kilburn's statement amounts to the designation of a lectotype for S. turricula G.B. Sowerby II, 1844b. That act, however, does not constitute a valid designation of a lectotype under the current Art. 74.6 (ICZN 1999), so the type material remains the series of syntypes. Additionally, Sowerby's description was composite: he applied the name 'turricula' to two very different specimens. E.A. Smith [1890: 273], 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., Later authors (DuShane, Kilburn, etc.) confirmed S. confusa is a synonym of Depressiscala umbilicata (Pease, 1869).


Distribution:

Hawaii Dushane [1990:4]; East China Sea to the Philippines and Arabian Sea to Natal [Kilburn, 1985:. Smith [1890:273] notes specimens form St Helena and NW coast of Western Australia; Brazier [1875:250] extends the range to Princess Charlotte Bay, Far North Queensland. Dushane [1990:4] also cites a specimen from west Africa


Habitat:

11-13 fathoms [20.1- 23.8m] coral and sand [Brazier, 1875: 250]


Type Material:

Syntypes: NHMUK 1889.10.1.542-6; NHMUK 1889.10.1.2471-3; NHMUK 1886.2.22.20-22; NHMUK 1981211 (partim); NHMUK 1981212 [as Scalaria confusa E.A. Smith, 1890] - Type Locality: Catanuan, Isle of Luzon, Philippines, Sandwich Islands, N. W. Australia, St. Helena. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Lectotype: ANSP 127817 selected by DuShane [1990:4] [as Epitonium oahuense Pilsbry, 1921] - Type Locality: restricted to Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii by selection of the lectotype. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: USNM 123976 [as Epitonium confusum (E. A. Smith, 1890)]. [Kaicher, S.D., 1980]


SpeciesImage

Pilsbry, H. A. (1920). pp: 376. Plate 11. Fig. d.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
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 [now Epitonium umbilicatum (Pease, 1869)]
Species Image
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.
Species Image
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.
Pease, W. H. (1869).
Species Image
pp: 74.
Smith, E. A. (1890).
Shown in text as Scalaria confusa E.A. Smith, 1890
Species Image
pp: 273.
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920).
Shown in text as Epitonium oahuense Pilsbry, 1921
Species Image
pp: 376. Plate 11. Fig. d.
Species Image
pp: 376-377.
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
Shown in text as Epitonium confusum (E. A. Smith, 1890)
Species Image
Card #: EP1-2299.
Kilburn, R.N (1985).
Shown in text as Epitonium (Depressiscala) confusum (E. A. Smith, 1890)
Species Image
108, NM B6803, Durban, 8,1 x 3,5 mm;
109, NM H5489, Conducía Bay, Mozambique, 21,8 x 7,3 mm.
Brown, L. (2010).
Species Image
pp: 29. Fig. 11.
East China Sea
Photo: Tom Eichorst

Synonymy:

Epitonium (Depressiscala) confusum (E. A. Smith, 1890) [in Kilburn, R.N, 1985].
Epitonium confusum (E. A. Smith, 1890) [in Kaicher, S.D., 1980].
Epitonium oahuense Pilsbry, 1921 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Epitonium oahuense Pilsbry, 1921 [in Pilsbry, H. A., 1920].
Scalaria confusa E.A. Smith, 1890 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria confusa E.A. Smith, 1890 [in Smith, E. A., 1890].
Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Brazier, J., 1875].
Scalaria turricula G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1844].


Source Literature:

Brazier, J. (1875). Shells collected during the Chevert Expedition, with Descriptions of the New Species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 1(3). Linnean Society of New South Wales.. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/22887 [Accessed 3 September 2025]
Brown, L. (2010). Report on the Epitoniidae of the East China Sea - Part 2. American Conchologist: quarterly bulletin of the Conchologists of America, Inc. 38 (3). Lipps-National Pres. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/262812 [Accessed 23 July 2025]
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]
DuShane, H. (1990). Hawaiian Epitoniidae. Hawaiian Shell News. 38(Sup.1). Hawaiian Malacological Society
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]
Kilburn, R.N (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
Pease, W. H. (1869). Description of new species of marine Gasteropodæ inhabiting Polynesia.. American Journal of Conchology. 5(2). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15978904 [Accessed 11 July 2025]
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920). Marine Mollusks of Hawaii: XIV, XV. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 72. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/84996 [Accessed 4 June 2025]
Smith, E. A. (1890). Report on the marine molluscan fauna of the island of St. Helena. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,. https://biostor.org/reference/99510 [Accessed 11 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]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record