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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium connexum

(G. B. Sowerby, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 3.6 mm - 22 mm high and 1.7 mm - 11.2 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.47:1 ~ 0.51:1

Shell: oval, somewhat elongated, subcylindrical, pupiform; quite delicate; minute to moderately small. Exterior colour brownish, dark tawny, pale purple, costae white. About 10.5 whorls, very slightly convex; protoconch with ~3.5 whorls ; teleoconch with ~7 whorls. Spire obtuse. Suture deep. Imperforate. Approximately 18 - 20 costae on the body whorl. Costae are thin, erect, slightly sinuous. Costae continuous from whorl to whorl. Intercostal spaces smooth. Aperture oval.


Distribution:

Philippines [Reeve, 1873:97]; Kii Peninsula, Okinawa, Japan [Nakayama 2003: 74]; Sumatra, Malaysia [Brown & Neville, 2015:159]


Habitat:

shallow water sandy substrate, 13-150m [Brown & Neville, 2015:159]


Etymology:

[latin] from connexus = connected, joined together, linked, probably in reference to the costae being joined across the suture


Type Material:

Holotype: NHMUK 1981040 [as Scalaria connexa G.B. Sowerby II, 1844: ~ Scala virgo Thiele, 1925.] - Type Locality: Sual, Pr. Pangasinan, Luzon, Philippines, in 7 fms [= 13 m], sandy mud.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Holotype: NSMT Mo- 52446 [as Folaceiscala virgo Masahito & Habe, 1976:] - Type Locality: off Esuzaki, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, 150 m.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Syntype: ZMB 108527 [as Scala virgo Thiele, 1925:] - Type Locality: Padang, Sumatra.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxiv. Fig. 98.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Species Image
Plate xxxiv. Fig. 98.
Species Image
pp: 97.
The shell is oval, somewhat elongated, smooth, imperforate; suture deep; varices numerous, laminated, prominent, obliquely continuing to the apex; aperture oval; color, between varices, dark tawny.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Species Image
Plate xiii. Fig. 95.
Species Image
Shell small, subcylindrical, pale purple between the ribs; spire obtuse; varices oblique, laminar, white, close, connected.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Species Image
Plate 14. Fig. 41.
Species Image
pp: 69.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 ·
Species Image
Plate 4. Fig. 9.
Species Image
pp: 17-18.
Shell minute, subcylindrical, pale purple between the ribs; spire blunt; varices oblique, white, numerous, connected.
Thiele, J. (1925).
Shown in text as Scala virgo Thiele, 1925
Species Image
Plate 11. Fig. 21.
Species Image
Species Image
pp: 271.
Scala virgo n. sp.
(Plate 11, Figure 21)
A thin-walled, very translucent shell adorned with broad, slightly oblique, delicate folds-resembling flowing drapery-appears to be an undescribed species.
The largest specimen consists of about ten whorls, the upper three and a half being smooth, glossy, and tapering to a sharp apex. The following whorls are loosely connected, rounded, smooth, and ornamented with about twenty continuous, thin, and fairly broad lamellae. On the last whorl, these become somewhat angular below and are abruptly truncated on the underside.
A faint umbilical slit is indicated.
Aperture oval.
Height 3.6 mm, diameter 1.7 mm.
Kaicher, S.D. (1981).
Species Image
Card #: EP2-3038.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Shown in text as Epitonium (Limiscala) virgo (Masahito & Habe, 1976)
Species Image
Plate 18. Fig. 14-16.
Epitonium (Limiscala) virgo (Masahito & Habe, 1976)
height 22.0 mm; breadth 11.2 mm (holotype); fig. 16, base
Species Image
pp: 74.
Bonfitto, A. (2010).
Species Image
pp: 111. Fig. 2 A-C.
Epitonium (Connexiscala) connexa (Sowerby, 1844).
A-C Holotype of Scalaria connexa Sowerby, 1844 (BMNH
198140), Isle of Luzon, Philippines.

Synonymy:

Epitonium (Limiscala) virgo (Masahito & Habe, 1976) [in Nakayama, T., 2003].
Folaceiscala virgo Masahito & Habe, 1976: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scala virgo Thiele, 1925 [in Thiele, J., 1925].
Scala virgo Thiele, 1925: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Clessin, S., 1897].
Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Scalaria connexa G.B. Sowerby II, 1844: ~ Scala virgo Thiele, 1925. [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

Bonfitto, A. (2010). A new Connexiscala (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) from the bathyal zone of the Gulf of Aden. Molluscan Research. 30. DOI:10.11646/mr.30.2.6 [Accessed 11 August 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]
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]
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]
Thiele, J. (1925). Gastropoden der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition. II Teil. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer "Valdivia" 1898-1899.. 17(2). https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/3NJJP6TFO3ZWXZDRTI2CZV66VP76UDWR [Accessed 26 October 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