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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Cycloscala laxata

(G. B. Sowerby, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 7 mm - 20 mm high and 3.8 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.54:1 ~ 0.19:1

Shell: conical; thin; minute to small. Exterior colour white. About 9 whorls, rounded, separated; protoconch with ~1.5 whorls convex smooth, white; teleoconch with 6-7.5 whorls ovate. Spire moderately elevated. Umbilicate: narrowly open. Approximately 10 - 19 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thin, fairly regular, lamellar, simple. Costae coronated. Intercostal spaces smooth, glossy. Aperture ovate, ovate-quadrate.

This species is close to E. (K.) laxatoides, but it is distinguishable by the smaller number of axial costae and its rather small size. [Nakayama, 2003]


Distribution:

Off Kii Peninsula to the Philippines; Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman [Melvill & Standen 1903]


Habitat:

27-285 m, amongst broken coral [Melvill & Standen 1903]


Etymology:

[latin] from laxatus = loosened, slackened, spread out, slightly open


Type Material:

Holotype: NHMUK 1981228 for Cycloscala laxata (G. B. Sowerby, 1844) - Type Locality: Catanuan, Luzon, Philippines.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Syntype: BMNH type collection 1981228 [as Epitonium laxatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)]. [Kaicher, S.D., 1981]


SpeciesImage

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxii. Fig. 8.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria laxata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
Plate xxxii. Fig. 8.
Species Image
pp: 85.
Thin shell, slightly separate whorls: numerous, somewhat regular, laminated varices, simple; oval aperture: white in color."
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria laxata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
Plate vi. Fig. 38.
Species Image
Shell thin, smooth, white, whorls much disunited, varices numerous, thin, scarcely regular, laminated, simple; aperture
oval.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as DDD
Species Image
Plate 11. Fig. 52.
Species Image
pp: 57.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria laxata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
Plate 1. Fig. 7.
Species Image
pp: 3.
Shell thin-shelled, smooth, white in color, with rounded whorls separated by deep sutures, increasing rather slowly and evenly; longitudinal folds numerous, thin, fairly regular, lamellar, simple; aperture egg-shaped.
Habitat: Luzon Island, Philippines.
Melvill, J. C. & Standen, R (1903).
Species Image
pp: 345.
Kaicher, S.D. (1981).
Shown in text as Epitonium laxatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)
Species Image
Card #: EP2-3080.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 125. Plate 11. Fig. 16.
Epitonium (Kriscala) laxatum (Sowerby, 1844)
height 7.0 mm; breadth 3.8 mm
off Kushimoto, Kii Peninsula, Japan, dredged at 100 m deep
Species Image
pp: 125. Plate 11. Fig. 17.
Epitonium (Kriscala) laxatum (Sowerby, 1844)
height 7.0 mm; breadth 3.8 mm
off Kushimoto, Kii Peninsula, Japan, dredged at 100 m deep
fig. 17, base

Synonymy:

DDD [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Epitonium laxatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) [in Kaicher, S.D., 1981].
Scalaria laxata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Clessin, S., 1897].
Scalaria laxata G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1844].
Scalaria laxata 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. (1981). Epitoniidae II [Pack 30]. S. D. Kaicher, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.femorale.com/kaicher/species.asp?f=Epitoniidae&c=125 [Accessed 8 May 2023]
Melvill, J. C. & Standen, R (1903). The genus Scala (Klein) Humphrey, as represented in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and North Arabian Sea, with descriptions of new species.. Journal of Conchology. 10. Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31650162 [Accessed 26 February 2025]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
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
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record