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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Amaea ogaitoi

Masahito & Habe, 1975

Description:

Dimensions range from 6 mm - 15 mm high and 2 mm - 4.19 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.33:1 ~ 0.28:1

Shell: turreted with highly elevated spire; light, thin; minute to small. Exterior colour pure white. About 11.5 whorls, body whorl rather small but well rounded; protoconch with ~2.5 whorls smooth and snowy white; teleoconch with ~9 whorls convex, inflated. Spire highly elevated. Suture well constricted. Imperforate: umbilicus closed. Approximately 39 costae on the body whorl. Costae are small, densely packed. There is a single varix on each whorl. The varix is irregularly placed strong varices. Intercostal spaces Intercostal surface with very weak, densely set spiral threads forming minute reticulations. Base disc absent. Aperture rounded, lip thick, callous.


Distribution:

Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Yeppoon Queensland


Habitat:

mud, sand substrate 6-200m


Etymology:

named for the collector, Mr. Hiroshi Ogaito


Type Material:

Holotype: NSMT Mo- 49719 [as Scala tenuicancellata de Boury, mss.] - Type Locality: 600-800 m off Ushijima near Sakaide City, Shikoku, Japan, 6-7 m deep.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: National Science Museum, NSMT-Mo 49719.
Paratype: National Science Museum, NSMT-Mo 49723 for Amaea ogaitoi Masahito & Habe, 1975 - Type Locality: 600-800 m off Ushijima near Sakaide City, Shikoku. [Masahito, Prince & Habe, T., 1975]
Holotype: NSMT-Mo 49719 for Amaea ogaitoi Masahito & Habe, 1975 - Type Locality: Ushijima, Sakaide, Kagawa prefecture, northern Shikoku (Seto inland sea KIMURA, 1996-a). [Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y., 1999]


SpeciesImage

Murrell (2025).

Yeppoon, Queensland.
12.72mm.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Masahito, Prince & Habe, T. (1975).
Species Image
pp: 192. Plate 1. Fig. 2.
2. Amaea
ogaitoi sp. nov. (holotype specimen),
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 113. Plate 5. Fig. 27-28.
figs 27-28: height 6.9 mm; breadth 2.0 mm (NA)
Species Image
pp: 113. Plate 5. Fig. 25-26.
Amaca (Amaca) ogaitoi Masahito & Habe, 1975 height 9.5 mm; breadth 2.8 mm (holotype)
arsint.com (2023).
Species Image
Amaea Firmiscala ogaitoi cf.
arsint.com (2023).
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6 mm, Singapore.
Species Image
6 mm, Singapore.
Murrell (2025).
Species Image
Yeppoon, Queensland.
12.72mm.

Synonymy:

Scala tenuicancellata 'de Boury mss', Weil, L. Brown, and Neville, 1999: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scala tenuicancellata de Boury, mss. [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

arsint.com (2023). Shells for Sale:Epitonidae. arsint.com. http://www.arsint.com/seashells_epitoniidae_opalia.html [Accessed 21 October 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]
Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999). Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan.. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266375656_Catalogue_and_Bibliography_of_the_Marine_Shell-Bearing_Mollusca_of_Japan [Accessed 25 July 2025]
Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (2001). Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Molluscs of Japan. Type Figures. Elle Scientific Publications
Masahito, Prince & Habe, T. (1975). Systematic study of Japanese Epitoniidae (II). Bulletin of the National Science Museum Series A (Zoology) . 1(4). National Science Museum. https://www.kahaku.go.jp/english/research/publication/zoology/v01_4.html [Accessed 4 March 2025]
Murrell (2025). Personal Collection
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
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record