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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Amaea magnifica

(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 102.7 mm - 115 mm high.
Width to height ratio: 00:1 ~ 00:1

Shell: large, elongated, pyramidal; large. Exterior colour white, maybe faintly tinged purple or tawny brown. About 10 whorls, increasing slowly, rounded, distinct. Suture deep. Imperforate. Costae are arched, inequidistant, no varices on the upper whorls, few on the last whorls. Occasional varix appearing randomly on the shell. Intercostal spaces surface cancellated with strong spiral ribs and concentric interstitial striae, varices on the upper whorls none, on the last whorls few, arched, inequidistant;. Columella slightly twisted. Aperture partly auriform.


Distribution:

China; Japan south to the China Sea; Taiwan; Red Sea.


Habitat:

Offshore in fairly shallow water 20-200m, sandy substrate


Type Material:

not located. for Amaea magnifica (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - Locality: China.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]
Type not indicated in text for Amaea magnifica (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - Locality: 'China Sea'. [Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y., 1999]


SpeciesImage

Murrell (2025).

Dredged from 108m [60 fthms]
30 miles north of Jaiding District, Taiwan.
102.7mm.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
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Plate xxxiv. Fig. 103.
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pp: 102.
original description
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873-1874).
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Plate ii. Fig. 10.
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Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria magnifica G. B. Sowerby II, 1844
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Plate 16. Fig. 16.
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pp: 78.
Clessin, S. (1897).
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Plate 5. Fig. 2.
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pp: 19.
Shell large, elongated, pyramidal, whitish; numerous whorls increasing slowly, rounded, distinct; interspaces latticed with strong spiral ribs and concentric striae; no varices on the upper whorls, few on the last whorls, arched and irregularly spaced; aperture somewhat auriform, columella slightly twisted.
Kaicher, S. (1972).
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Card #: EP1-2339.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
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pp: 113. Plate 5. Fig. 15-16.
Amaea (Amaea) magnifica (Sowerby, 1844)
height 111.2 mm; breadth 32.4 mm (NA); fig. 17, base
Species Image
pp: 113. Plate 5. Fig. 17.
Amaea (Amaea) magnifica (Sowerby, 1844)
fig. 17, base
Murrell (2025).
Species Image
Dredged from 108m [60 fthms]
30 miles north of Jaiding District, Taiwan.
102.7mm.

Synonymy:

Scalaria magnifica G. B. Sowerby II, 1844 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].


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]
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]
Murrell (2025). Personal Collection
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. (1873-1874). 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
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record