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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Opalia granosa

(Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)

Description:

Dimensions range from 25 mm - 40.4 mm high and 12 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.48:1 ~ 0.3:1

Shell: pyramid-shaped, elongated, somewhat stout, elongated, pyramidal; thick; moderately small to medium. Exterior colour white, pale tan; aperture is white. About 9 whorls, convex, sometimes varxed, sloped, crenulated at the suture, very finely granulated; teleoconch with 8-9 whorls barely prominent whorls, encircled near the middle by an indistinct keel at the front. Spire sharp. Suture crenulate at the suture; indistinct suture. Imperforate. Approximately 10 - 14 costae on the body whorl. Costae are axial ribs low, rounded, sometimes obsolete on the last whorl, obsolete riblets that are wavy, very rarely varicose. Intercostal spaces minutely granulated,, very minutely granulated, surface minutely granulated. Base convex, rib weak. Aperture somewhat triangular; margin thickened, extended into an angle at the front, rounded, with a thick varix; peristome incomplete; inner lip thick.

do not confuse with O.australis which 1s more strongly sculptured, distinguished by the presence of the varices and the characteristic granulated sculpture


Distribution:

Bass Strait [Tate & May, 1901:379], across southern Australia to Freemantle, Western Australia [Wilson 1993: 280]


Habitat:

Intertidal, rock crevices


Type Material:

not located for Opalia granosa (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834) - Type Locality: 'le port du Roi-George, à la Nouvelle-Hollande' [King George Sound, Western Australia]. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Clessin, S. (1897). Plate 4. Fig. 1.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Quoy et Gaimard (1834).
Shown in text as Turritella granosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
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pp: 138.
original description
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Plate 55. Fig. 30.
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Plate 55. Fig. 29.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scalaria granulosa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 ·
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Plate xxxv. Fig. 144.
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pp: 104.
pyramid-shaped, elongated, minutely granulated, thick, imperforate, with obsolete riblets that are wavy; with 9 barely prominent whorls, encircled near the middle by an indistinct keel at the front, crenulate at the suture; indistinct suture; aperture somewhat triangular; margin thickened, extended into an angle at the front; pale tan in colour; aperture is white.
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria granulata Reeve, 1873
Species Image
Plate v. Fig. 35.
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Shell pyramidal, very minutely granulated, fulvous, very rarely varicose, with a single band of white; whorls sloped, crenulated at the suture; aperture subtrigonal, inner lip thick, angular beneath.
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria granulosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
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Plate 16. Fig. 11.
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pp: 80.
Clessin, S. (1897).
Shown in text as Scalaria granulata Quoy et Gaymard, misspelling of granosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
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Plate 4. Fig. 1.
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pp: 12.
Shell pyramidal, very finely granulated, yellowish, very rarely varicose, with a single white band; whorls sloping, crenulated at the suture; aperture somewhat triangular, inner lip thick, angled below.
Verco, J.C. (1906).
Shown in text as Scala granosa, Quoy
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pp: 146.
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931).
Shown in text as Scala granosa Quoy & Gaimard 1834
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pp: 7.
Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. (1962).
Shown in text as Granuliscala granosa (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
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pp: 116. Fig. 140.
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pp: 114.
Kaicher, S.D. (1981).
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Card #: EP2-3100.
arsint.com (2023).
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Opalia Granuliscala granosa
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Synonymy:

Granuliscala granosa (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834) [in Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J., 1962].
Scala granosa Quoy & Gaimard 1834 [in Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K., 1931].
Scala granosa, Quoy [in Verco, J.C., 1906].
Scalaria granulata 'Quoy et Gaimard' G.B. Sowerby II, 1873: [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].
Scalaria granulata Quoy et Gaymard, misspelling of granosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 [in Clessin, S., 1897].
Scalaria granulata Reeve, 1873 [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1873].
Scalaria granulosa G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 · [in Sowerby, G. B. II., 1844].
Scalaria granulosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Turritella granosa Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 [in Quoy et Gaimard, 1834].


Source Literature:

arsint.com (2023). Shells for Sale:Epitonidae. arsint.com. http://www.arsint.com/seashells_epitoniidae_opalia.html [Accessed 21 October 2023]
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]
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931). South Australian Shells Part II. The South Australian Naturalist. 13(1). Field Naturalists Society of South Australia. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42129287 [Accessed 8 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]
Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. (1962). Marine Molluscs of Victoria. Melbourne University Press and National Museum of Victoria: Melbourne.. https://archive.org/details/marinemolluscsof0000jhop/page/118/mode/2up [Accessed 13 June 2025]
Quoy et Gaimard (1834). Zoologie. Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe: exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. 3.1. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/2132 [Accessed 3 July 2025]
South Wales. 26(3). https://biostor.org/reference/53643 [Accessed 5 November 2025]
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]
Tate, R. & May, W.L. (1901). A revised census of the marine Mollusca of Tasmania. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New
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]
Verco, J.C. (1906). Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca, with descriptions of new species. Part IV.. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 30 Pt 4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16124267 [Accessed 19 June 2023]
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]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record