Epitonium connexum
(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)
Description:
Dimensions range from 3.6 mm - 8 mm high and 1.7 mm - 2.8 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.47:1 ~ 0.35:1
Shell: oval, somewhat elongated, subcylindrical, pupiform; quite delicate; minute to small. Exterior colour brownish, dark tawny, pale purple, costae white. About 10 whorls, very slightly convex; protoconch with ~3.5 whorls ; teleoconch with ~6.5 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.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxiv. Fig. 98.
Distribution
as listed in source literature
Type Material:
The following list brings together type material and other cited specimens as reported in the sources examined, grouped under the names and designations used in each source. The same specimen may appear in multiple entries drawn from different sources. Some entries concern other species included by authors for comparison; inclusion in this list does not imply synonymy.
Scala virgo Thiele, 1925:SyntypeZMB 108527. Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 159].
Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844HolotypeBMNH 1981040. Sual, Pangasinan, Philippines. [Natural History Museum, 2014: 1981040].NHMUK 1981040. Sual, Pr, Pangasinan, Luzon, Philippines. 13m [7 fthms]. sandy mud. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 56].
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate xxxiv. Fig. 98.
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).
Shown in text as Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate xiii. Fig. 95.
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
Plate 14. Fig. 41.
pp: 69.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria connexa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
Plate 4. Fig. 9.
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
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).
