Header Image
Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Amaea setonaikaiensis

Masahito & Habe, 1975

Description:

Dimensions range from 4.2 mm - 19.4 mm high and 4.9 mm - 17.5 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 01.17:1 ~ 0.9:1

Shell: turreted; thin, fragile; minute to small. Exterior colour translucently white. About 11 whorls; protoconch with ~2 whorls smooth and snowy white; teleoconch with 8-9 whorls very convex. Suture deeply constricted. Approximately 20 - 25 costae on the body whorl. Costae are varied in size. Intercostal spaces densely weak spiral threads between costae. Base moderately rounded at the base. Columella margin extends over the umbilical area. Aperture roundly ovate; outer lip thick, roundly curved.

It is very close to Epitonium (Par.) tenuipicturatum, but is distinguishable by having rather fewer axial costae and weak spiral threads.


Distribution:

Setonaikai Sea, Japan.


Habitat:

10-40 m (Tsuchida in Okutani 2000: 337).


Type Material:

Holotype: (NSMT-Mo 49717) for Amaea setonaikaiensis Masahito & Habe, 1975 - Locality: Seijima, Sakaide, the Inland Sea of Japan (Setonaikai). [Nakayama, T., 2003]


SpeciesImage

arsint.com (2023).

19.4 mm, Japan

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Masahito, Prince & Habe, T. (1975).
Species Image
pp: 192. Plate 1. Fig. 3.
Species Image
pp: 193.
Higo, S., Callomon, P. and Goto, Y. (2001).
Species Image
pp: 53. Fig. G1837.
Amaea setonaikaiensis
MASAHITO & HABE, 1975
Holotype: NSMT-Mo 49717

G1837
17.6mm
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 129. Plate 13. Fig. 16-17.
Epitonium (Parviscala) setonaikaiense (Masahito & Habe, 1975)
height 17.5 mm; breadth 4.9 m (holotype); fig. 18, base
arsint.com (2023).
Species Image
19.4 mm, Japan
Species Image
19.4 mm, Japan

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]
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]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record