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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium symmetricum

(Pease, 1867)

Description:

Dimensions range from 3 mm - 12 mm high and 1.5 mm - 4 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.5:1 ~ 0.33:1

Shell: elongate, acuminate; solid; microscopic to small. Exterior colour white. About 11 whorls, convex, contiguous; protoconch with ~5 whorls ; teleoconch with ~6 whorls. Imperforate: umbilicus closed. Approximately 14 - 16 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thick. Costae slightly recurved; continuous over the sutures. Intercostal spaces spirally striated. Columella columella thickened and somewhat expanded at base. Aperture nearly circular.


Distribution:

Hawaii, Indo-Pacific, Cocos-Keeling Is [DuShane 1990: 9]; Tahiti [Tryon, 1887:66]


Habitat:

Intertidal to 270 m; sand and coral [DuShane, 1988:5]


Etymology:

[latin] from symmetricus = symmetric


Type Material:

Holotype: ANSP 19586 [as Scalaria symmetrica Pease, 1867] - Locality: Tahiti.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: ANSP 19586 [as Parviscala symmetrica (Pease, 1867)] - Locality: Tahiti. [DuShane, H., 1988]


SpeciesImage

ANSP Academy of Natural Sciences (2025).

Holotype Academy of Natural Sciences 19586

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Pease, W. H. (1868).
Species Image
Plate 24. Fig. 14.
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pp: 290.
original description
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
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Plate 13. Fig. 12.
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pp: 66.
Maes, V. O. (1967).
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Plate 8. Fig. B.
Epitonium cf. E. symmetrica (Pease)
ANSP 287715, 3.7 mm
ANSP Academy of Natural Sciences (2025).
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Holotype Academy of Natural Sciences 19586
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Holotype Academy of Natural Sciences 19586
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Holotype Academy of Natural Sciences 19586

Synonymy:

Parviscala symmetrica (Pease, 1867) [in DuShane, H., 1988].
Parviscala symmetrica (Pease, 1867) [in DuShane, H., 1990].
Scalaria symmetrica Pease, 1867 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

ANSP Academy of Natural Sciences (2025). Holotype Epitonium symmetricum Pease 1867. ANSP Academy of Natural Sciences. http://clade.ansp.org/malacology/collections/details.php?mode=details&catalognumber=19586 [Accessed 29 March 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. (1988). Hawaiian Epitoniidae pt.4. Hawaiian Shell News. 36(7). https://storage.googleapis.com/conchology-general-images/images/hsn/pdf/1988/8807.pdf [Accessed 29 October 2025]
DuShane, H. (1990). Hawaiian Epitoniidae. Hawaiian Shell News. 38(Sup.1). Hawaiian Malacological Society
Maes, V. O. (1967). The Littoral Marine Mollusks of Cocos-Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 119. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064613 [Accessed 25 October 2025]
Pease, W. H. (1868). Description of sixty-five new species of marine Gastropodae, inhabiting Polynesia. American Journal of Conchology. 3(4). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6659055 [Accessed 20 March 2025]
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