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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epidendrium aureum

Gittenberger & Gittenberger, 2005

Description:

Dimensions range from 10 mm - 22.5 mm high and 6 mm - 10.7 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.6:1 ~ 0.48:1

Shell: varying from broad to relatively slender conical; fragile; small to moderately small. Exterior colour apex dark, purplish red pigment, which continues on the teleoconch as a s band below the periphery, fading on later whorls to yellowing white. About 12.75 whorls, convex; protoconch with 3-4 whorls smooth apex, regularly spaced, very fine, incised, axial lines; teleoconch with ~8.75 whorls. Suture moderately deep. Umbilicate: moderately wide. Approximately 35 - 164 costae on the body whorl. Costae are orthocline regularly placed, lamellar, not or slightly curved, low. Costae discontinuous, not or hardly touching the adjoining whorls. Intercostal spaces up to 35 regularly placed, relatively thick, spiral threads. Interstices with approximately 16 - 18 spiral striae per whorl. Aperture subcircular. Operculum paucispiral.


Distribution:

Indo-west Pacific; Kii Peninsula to Okinawa, Japan; Philippines, Taiwan, south to Queensland, Australia; Maldives, Red Sea


Habitat:

Intertidal, recorded to 28m


Etymology:

[latin] from areus = of the colour of gold, gold-coloured, in reference to the bright yellow colour of the species in situ


Type Material:

Holotype: RMNH 95287 [as Epidendrium aureum A. & E. Gittenberger, 2005:] - Locality: W Ulong, W of barrier reef, Tsey's tunnel, Palau, 07° 18 40N, 134° 13 30E.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005). pp: 154. Fig. 51.

Figs 51-52, Epidendrium aureum spec. nov.;
51, holotype, Palau; 52, paratype,

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Nakayama, T. (2003).
Shown in text as Epidendrium billeeanum (DuShane & Bratcher, 1965)
Species Image
pp: 117. Plate 7. Fig. 24.
figs 24-25: Alora bilecanae (DuShane &Bratcher, 1965) height 11.0 mm; breadth 6.0 mm (WMNH-Mo-Na500)

Nakayama, T. & Kazunori, H. (2016) discuss that Epidendrium billeeanum was originally described from the Gulf of California on the west coast of North America, and is known to be distributed from the Gulf of California to the Galapagos archipelago (Gittenberger & Gittenberger, 2005).
Specimens recorded under this name from the northwestern Pacific ( Nakayama, 2003: pl. 7, figs 24-25;) actually belong to a different species, which was later described as E. aureum by Gittenberger & Gittenberger (2012).
Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005).
Species Image
pp: 154. Fig. 51.
Figs 51-52, Epidendrium aureum spec. nov.;
51, holotype, Palau; 52, paratype,
Species Image
pp: 154. Fig. 52.
Figs 51-52, Epidendrium aureum spec. nov.;
51, holotype, Palau; 52, paratype,
Nakayama, T. & Kazunori, H. (2016).
Species Image
pp: 20. Fig. 1a-b.
1
Species Image
pp: 20. Fig. 2.
1

Synonymy:

Epidendrium aureum A. & E. Gittenberger, 2005: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Epidendrium billeeanum (DuShane & Bratcher, 1965) [in Nakayama, T., 2003].


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]
Gittenberger A. & Gittenberger E. (2005). A hitherto unnoticed adaptive radiation: epitoniid species (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) associated with corals (Scleractinia).. Contributions to Zoology. 74(1-2). Contributions to Zoology. http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/43091 [Accessed 16 July 2023]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
Nakayama, T. & Kazunori, H. (2016). Description of a New Species of the Genus Epidendrium from Japan, with Taxonomical Comments on the Taxa Previously Assigned to the Genus Alora in the Northwestern Pacific (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae). Venus. 71(1-2). Malacological Society of Japan. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18941/venus.74.1-2_19 [Accessed 14 September 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