Header Image
Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Epitonium sandwichense

(Nyst, 1873)

Description:

Dimensions range from 3 mm - 13 mm high and 1 mm - 4.41 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.33:1 ~ 0.34:1

Shell: elomgate, slender conical; rather thick, sturdy; microscopic to small. Exterior colour white. About 14 whorls, rounded, narrowly separate; protoconch with ~4 whorls smooth, glassy; teleoconch with 7-10 whorls evenly spaced, moderately thick costae. Suture very deep, but not detached, however Pilsbry [1920:375] indicated they are detached and joined by the cosate, Pease [1868:289], DuShane [1990:7] and Tryon [1887:65] also mentions the whorls are 'narrowly separate'. Imperforate. Approximately 7 - 16 costae on the body whorl. Costae are stout, regular, laminate. Costae costae of adjoining whorls are in line; continuous from whorl to whorl; coronate, with peaks that are also strongly curved; outer margins strongly curved, recurved. Intercostal spaces decussated by fine axial and spiral striae. Aperture nearly round, with a broad callus at its columellar side, lip entire.


Distribution:

Hawaiian Islands; Okinawal Tuamoto Archipelago; Fiji; Philippines; Australia; Guam, Mariana Islands; Papua New guinea, Malaysia; Maldives [DuShane, 1990:7]; Gulf of Thailand [Wells et al., 2021:128]; Gilbert Islands [Tryon, 1887:65].


Habitat:

Intertidal coral rubble and sand to 169 m. Host Macrodactyla doreensis, Heteractis crispa, Stichodactyla haddoni. Kakshroon, Gittenberger & Gittenberger [2007: 41]. Kay [1979:155] attributed laboratory feeding on Aiptasia to Epitonium sandwichense (as E. kanemoe), citing Taylor [1975]. Taylor's statement that 'Aiptasia suffices as the food of this species during juvenilehood', however, appears in the account of E. ulu [Taylor, 1975:177], not under E. kanemoe.


Etymology:

In reference to the Sandwich Islands- Hawaii.


SpeciesImage

Tryon, G.W. (1887). Plate 13. Fig. 14.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Type Material:

Kokshoorn et al. [2007:41] are not convinced that E. sandwhichense is the same species originally described from Hawaii as Scalaria decussata by Pease (1868) and Epitonium kanemoe by Pilsbry (1921).

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.
Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921HolotypeANSP MO127822. Haena, Kauai, Hawaii, USA. [Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO127822].ANSP 127822. Haena, Kauai, USA. [Pilsbry, 1920: 375].
Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868LectotypeANSP MO19585. Hawaii, USA. [Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO19585].SyntypeANSP 19585. Hawaii (Sandwich Islands), USA. [Pease, 1868: 289].ParalectotypeANSP MO391064. Hawaii, USA. [Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO391064].
Scalaria sandwichensis Nyst, 1871Type designation not provided in text/ source documentTuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. [Nyst, 1873: 132].


Pease, W. H. (1868).
Shown in text as Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868
Species Image
Plate 24. Fig. 10.
Species Image
pp: 289.
Nyst, H. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria sandwichensis Nyst, 1871
Species Image
pp: 132.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868
Species Image
Plate 13. Fig. 14.
Species Image
pp: 65.
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920).
Shown in text as Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921
Species Image
pp: 376. Plate 11. Fig. b.
Species Image
pp: 375.
Rosenberg, G. (2026).
Shown in text as Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868
Species Image
Fig. ANSP MO19585.
Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868
Lectotype: ANSP MO19585
Hawaii, USA
Academy of Natural Sciences
CC BY-NC 4.0
Species Image
Fig. ANSP MO19585.
Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868
Lectotype: ANSP MO19585
Hawaii, USA
Academy of Natural Sciences
CC BY-NC 4.0
Rosenberg, G. (2026).
Shown in text as Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921
Species Image
Fig. ANSP MO127822.
Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921
Holotype: ANSP MO127822
Haena, Kauai, Hawaii, USA
Academy of Natural Sciences
CC BY-NC 4.0
Species Image
Fig. ANSP MO127822.
Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921
Holotype: ANSP MO127822
Haena, Kauai, Hawaii, USA
Academy of Natural Sciences
CC BY-NC 4.0

Synonymy:

Epitonium (Laeviscala) sandwichense (Nyst, 1871) [Wells et al., 2021: 128; Weil et al., 1999: 98]
Epitonium cf. sandwichense (Nyst, 1871) [Kokshoorn et al., 2007: 41]
Epitonium kanemoe Pilsbry, 1921 [Pilsbry, 1920: 375; Kay, 1979: 155; Taylor, 1975: 143; Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO127822]
Scalaria decussata Pease, 1868 [Pease, 1868: 289; Tryon, 1887: 65; Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO19585; Rosenberg, 2026: ANSP MO391064]
Scalaria sandwichensis Nyst, 1871 [Brown & Neville, 2015: 135; Nyst, 1873: 132]


Source Literature:

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]
DuShane, H. (1990). Hawaiian Epitoniidae. Hawaiian Shell News. 38(Sup.1). Hawaiian Malacological Society
Gemert L van (2003). Marine schelpen verzamelen op Ko Samui (Golf van Thailand). De Kreukel. 39
Kay, E. A. (1979). Hawaiian marine shells: Reef and shore fauna of Hawaii section 4. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication. 64(4). Bishop Museum Press.. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4750994M/Hawaiian_marine_shells [Accessed 24 July 2026]
Kokshoorn, B., Gittenberger, J. & Gittenberger, A (2007). Epitoniid parasites (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Epitoniidae) and their host sea anemones (Cnidaria,Actiniaria,Ceriantharia) in the Spermonde archipelago, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Basteria. 71(1-3)
Nyst, H. (1873). Tableau synoptique et synonymique des espèces vivantes et fossiles du genre Scalaria décrites par les auteurs, avec l'indication des pays de provenance ainsi que des dépôts dans lesquels les espèces fossiles ont été recueillies. Mémoires de la Société Malacologique de Belgique.. 6. Société Malacologique de Belgique. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43230278 [Accessed ]
Pease, W. H. (1868). Description of sixty-five new species of marine Gastropodae, inhabiting Polynesia. American Journal of Conchology. 3(4). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6659055 [Accessed 20 March 2025]
Pilsbry, H. A. (1920). Marine Mollusks of Hawaii: XIV, XV. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 72. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/84996 [Accessed 4 June 2025]
Rosenberg, G. (2026). Malacology Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.. Academy of Natural Sciences. Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/xp1dhx [Accessed 28 June 2026]
Taylor, J. B. (1975). Planktonic prosobranch veligers of Kaneohe Bay (Doctoral dissertation, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa). ScholarSpace, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12012 [Accessed 25 July 2026]
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
Wells, E., Sanpanich, K., Tan, S. K, & Duangdee, T. (2021). The Marine and Estuarine Molluscs of Thailand. Lee Kong Chian natural History Museum
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record