Cycloscala echinaticosta
(d'Orbigny, 1842)
Description:
Dimensions range from 3 mm - 15 mm high and 1.5 mm - 4.9 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.5:1 ~ 0.33:1
Shell: slightly globose to elongate-turbinate, broadly conic; microscopic to small. Exterior colour yellowish-white. About 12 whorls, very convex, rapidly enlarging, The initial whorls are closely attached, while the final whorls are free but closely spaced; protoconch with ~3 whorls ; teleoconch with 8-9 whorls first and second post-nuclear whorls with 8 to 9 scalloped axial costae completely encircling teleoconch. Spire with angle of 30 - 35 degrees. Suture not defined. Umbilicate. Approximately 7 - 13 costae on the body whorl. Costae are blade-like, scalloped. Costae lobed, somewhat angled at the shoulder; may be slightly recurved backwards; not connected but may be tightly coiled in some specimens. Intercostal spaces sculptured with fine short threads. Columella not defined. Aperture circular, lip thin, expanded to form a ring around the aperture; inner lip thin. Operculum thin, corneous, light straw coloured.
Distribution:
Gulf of Mexico [Rosenberg et al. 2009:641); Texas, Louisiana; North Carolina to Florida to Barbados [Tunnell et al, 2010], West Indies and south to Barbados in the Lesser Antilles [Clench & Turner, 1951]; Bermuda, Northeast Brazil [Rios, 1985:157]
Habitat:
Coarse sediments in calcareous habitats, intertidal to 366m [Clench & Turner, 1951: 255, Tunnel et al., 2010, Rios 1985: 157]. Associated with the actinian Bunodeopsis globulifera (Duchassaing, 1850) [Den Hartog, 1987:96]
Etymology:
[latin] from echinus = spiny or prickly and costa = rib, in reference to the spine like projections on the ribs of the shell
Type Material:
Holotype not examined - probably in NHMUK and St. Thomasr
Clench, W. J. & Turner, R. D. (1951). pp: 254. Plate 109. Fig. 1-3.
Plate 109. Epitonium echinaticostum d`
Distribution
as listed in source literature
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1842).
Plate XI. Fig. 4.
Plate XI. Fig. 5-6.
pp: 18-19.
Shell elongate-conical, imperforate, thin, whitish, with elevated, undulating lamellae that are somewhat quadruply-spined; spire conical with a sharp apex; whorls smooth, somewhat separated.
Dimensions
Length: 3 mm
Diameter: 1 mm
Shell conical, thin, not umbilicated, ornamented longitudinally and very obliquely with twelve lamellae per whorl, all prominent, elevated, equal, slightly wavy, and marked along their length by four equally spaced blunt spines. Nucleus sharp, smooth, and conical. Spire conical, composed of very convex whorls, separated, joined only by the lamellae; they are smooth and without a keel.
Color: Uniform white.
The unique feature of the undulating lamellae adorned with four spines distinguishes this species from all other known Scalarias and makes it one of the prettiest.
We discovered it in sand from the island of Saint Thomas, collected by Mr. de Candé.
Gray, J.E., Orbigny, A,D,d', & British Museum Natural History (1854).
pp: 18.
record of specimen from Cuba held in BMNH
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875a).
Shown in text as Scala volubilis Mörch, 1875
pp: 256.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875a).
Shown in text as Scala echinaticosta var. blandii Mörch, 1875
pp: 256.
Mörch [Mørch], O. A. L (1875a).
pp: 255-256.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Plate 13. Fig. 98.
pp: 64.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scala soluta A. Adams, 1862
Plate 11. Fig. 55.
pp: 57.
Dall, W. H. (1889).
Shown in text as Scala (Cycloscala) dunkeriana Dall, 1889
pp: 315-316.
Clench, W. J. & Turner, R. D. (1951).
pp: 254. Plate 109. Fig. 1-3.
Plate 109. Epitonium echinaticostum d
Kaicher, S.D. (1983).
Card #: EP3-3570.
de Oliveira, F.M.R & Rocha-Barreira, C.d A, (2009).
Shown in text as Epitonium echinaticostum (Orbigny, 1842)
pp: 121. Fig. 1.9.
Tunnell, J. W., Andrews, J., Barrera, N. C., & Moretzsohn, F. (2010).
pp: 189.
arsint.com (2023).
Cycloscala echinaticosta 5.9 mm
Grenada
Kelly, F.J. (2025).
