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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Amaea splendida

(de Boury, 1913)

Description:

Dimensions range from 11 mm - 45 mm high and 5.1 mm - 11 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.46:1 ~ 0.24:1

Shell: turreted; thick; small to medium. Exterior colour white to brown. About 11 whorls, convex; protoconch usually defected, brownish, conical. Suture rather deep and somewhat canaliculate. Approximately 32 costae on the body whorl. Costae are dense, and crossed by spiral cords, forming a decussate pattern. Intercostal spaces decussate. Interstices with approximately 8 spiral striae per whorl. Base concave with peripheral cord. Base with 5 spiral striae, Aperture ovate; peristome slightly thickened, extended into an external canal .

This species differs from Amaea arabica by:, its much finer and denser ornamentation,, its narrower and less oblique suture,, its more concave base, adorned with more numerous cords.


Distribution:

Japan to Australia [Weil et al., 1999:84] ; New Caledonia [Héros et al., 2007:218]; Red Sea [Nakayama, 2003:22]; Mauritius [Boury, 1913b:286]


Habitat:

deep water, 100-320m


Type Material:

Type figure, coll. de M. Dautzenberg. Type locality: Île Maurice [Mauritius]. for Amaea splendida (de Boury, 1913). [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Garcia, E.F. (2003). pp: 9. Fig. 16-17.

16-17: Amaea splendida (de Boury, 1913). Vanuatu, 19°25'S, 169''27'E, 70-72 m [MUSORSTOM 8: sta. DW976]. length 25 mm

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Boury, E. de. (1913b).
Species Image
Plate X. Fig. 8.
Species Image
pp: 286.
S. (Elegantiscala) splendida de Boury, nov. sp.
(Pl. X, fig. 8)

Shell white, rather large. Slightly smaller than S. arabica, imperforate, elongate-turreted. Suture slightly oblique, deep, somewhat canaliculate, moderately open. Embryonic whorls missing. Following 11 whorls convex, with axial ribsŽ@­É"6X€r2$ì ‚`½Àþ¿¢¢B ‚*á
Species Image
pp: 287.
Garcia, E.F. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 9. Fig. 16-17.
16-17: Amaea splendida (de Boury, 1913). Vanuatu, 19°25'S, 169''27'E, 70-72 m [MUSORSTOM 8: sta. DW976]. length 25 mm
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Species Image
pp: 115. Plate 6. Fig. 10-12.
figs 10-12: Amaea (Scalina) splendida (De Boury, 1912)
height 11.0 mm; breadth 5.1 mm (KC); fig. 12, base
Brown, L. (2009).
Species Image
pp: 23. Fig. 8.
Photo: Tom Eichorst

Synonymy:

Amaea (Scalina) splendida (de Boury 1913) [in Heros V., Lozouet, P., Maestrati, P., von Cosel, R., Brabant D., & Bouchet P, 2007].


Source Literature:

Boury, E. de. (1913b). Description de Scalidae Nouveaux ou Peu Connus Pt 4. Journal of Conchology. 60(4). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55204 [Accessed 4 July 2025]
Brown, L. (2009). Report on the Epitoniidae of the East China Sea. American Conchologist: quarterly bulletin of the Conchologists of America, Inc. 37(2). Lipps-National Press. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/321313 [Accessed 23 July 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]
Garcia, E.F. (2003). New records of Indo-Pacific Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with the description of nineteen new specie. Novapex. 4 (Hors-série 1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42322472 [Accessed 26 August 2023]
Heros V., Lozouet, P., Maestrati, P., von Cosel, R., Brabant D., & Bouchet P (2007). Mollusca of New Caledonia. in: Payri C.E. Richer de Forges B. (Eds.) Compendium of marine species of New Caledonia, Doc. Sci. Tech.. II7 2ed. https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-04/010038859.pdf [Accessed 28 February 2026]
Huang, C. W. & Lee, Y.C. (2016). Checklist of the family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Taiwan with description of a new species and some new records. Biodiversity Data Journal. 4. doi: 10.3897/ BDJ.4.e5653 [Accessed 25 August 2023]
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
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