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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium auritum

(Sowerby II, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 11 mm - 30 mm high and 5 mm - 8.2 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.45:1 ~ 0.27:1

Shell: elongate, acuminate, narrow; small to moderately small. Exterior colour fawn to light brown, glossy, with three brown bands between the costae, costae white. About 13 whorls, convex, gradually increased; protoconch with ~2 whorls ; teleoconch with ~11 whorls convex. Suture impressed. Umbilicate: widely open. Approximately 9 - 13 costae on the body whorl. Costae are low, rounded, thin and occasionally, wide varices. Costae contiguous; joined at the suture. Intercostal spaces smooth. Aperture ovate; peristome complete, angled posteriorly; inner lip anteriorly angularly expanded. Operculum black, horny, paucispiral.


Distribution:

Pacific coast and southern coast of Sea of Japan; Philippines; Taiwan; Cairns across northern Australia to NIgaloo, WA; Coramandel Coast, India


Habitat:

intertidal [Nakayama, 2003] offshore to 36m [Brazier, 1875], sand


Etymology:

[latin] from auritus = ear shaped, possibly in reference to the shape of the shell's aperture


Type Material:

Syntypes: NHMUK 1981045 [as Scalaria aurita G.B. Sowerby II, 1844] - Type Locality: coast of Coromandel, southeastern India.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type not indicated in text for Epitonium auritum (Sowerby II, 1844) - Type Locality: 'from the coast of Coromandel' (southeastern India).. [Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y., 1999]


SpeciesImage

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxiii. Fig. 62.

36.Sc.AURiTA.(pl. xxxiii. f.62.) Sow.Jun. Zool Proc. 1844.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Species Image
Plate xxxiii. Fig. 62.
36.Sc.AURiTA.(pl. xxxiii. f.62.) Sow.Jun. Zool Proc. 1844.
Species Image
pp: 92.
original description
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria aurita
Species Image
Plate v. Fig. 30.
Species Image
Species 30. (Mus. Brit.)
SCALARIA AURITA.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Species Image
Plate 12. Fig. 84.
Species Image
pp: 59.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Species Image
Plate 18. Fig. 1.
Species Image
pp: 67.
Yokoyama, M (1922).
Species Image
Plate IV. Fig. 13.
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pp: 85-86.
Kaicher, S.D. (1980).
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Card #: EP1-2334.
Card #: EP1-233
Wilson, B.R. (1993).
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Plate 44. Fig. 14.

Synonymy:

Scalaria aurita [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1873].
Scalaria aurita G.B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

Brazier, J. (1875). Shells collected during the Chevert Expedition, with Descriptions of the New Species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 1(3). Linnean Society of New South Wales.. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/22887 [Accessed 3 September 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]
Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999). Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan.. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266375656_Catalogue_and_Bibliography_of_the_Marine_Shell-Bearing_Mollusca_of_Japan [Accessed 25 July 2025]
Kaicher, S.D. (1980). Epitoniidae I [Pack 23]. 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]
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
Wilson, B.R. (1993). Australian Marine Shells. Australian Marine Shells. 1. Odessey Publications
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]
Yokoyama, M (1922). Fossils from the Upper Musashino of Kazusa and Shimosa.. Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University of Tokyo. 44(1). http://umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DKoseibu/pdf/Ref_0465_.pdf [Accessed 21 June 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record