Epitonium

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Epitonium
Two shells of Epitonium humphreysii
Two shells of Epitonium humphreysii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Prosobranchia
Order: Heterogastropoda
Family: Epitoniidae
Genus: Epitonium
Röding, 1798
Species

See text.

Epitonium is a genus of small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. Epitonium is the type genus of the family Epitoniidae, the wentletraps.

The common name wentletrap is taken from the Dutch word for a spiral staircase, a reference to the striking form and sculpture of the shells of the mollusks in this genus, and to a lesser extent, the whole family.

The genus Epitonium has been divided into several subgenera by some authors, but these subgenera are based only on shell characters such as the presence and absence of spiral sculpture etc, and thus these taxons may not reflect the true underlying relationships or phylogeny.

Contents

[edit] Shell description

Epitonium shells are high-spired, and are all-white in most of the species within this genus. The shells have blade-like ribs known as costae.

[edit] Habitat

Wentletraps usually live in sand near sea anemones or corals.

[edit] Life Habits

These snails feed by inserting their proboscis and sucking liquid out of the anemone. Some species of wentletrap feed on only one species of sea anemone, in other words they are species-specific in terms of their prey.

[edit] See also

  • Wentletrap, an article about the family Epitoniidae.

[edit] Species within the genus Epitonium

NOTE: Some malacologists have recently placed many of the following species in other genera which were previously regarded as subgenera.

  • Epitonium albidum (d'Orbigny, 1842) - bladed wentletrap
  • Epitonium angulatum (Say, 1830) - angulate wentletrap
  • Epitonium apiculatum (Dall, 1889) - semismooth wentletrap
  • Epitonium babylonia (Dall, 1889) - tower wentletrap
  • Epitonium blainei Clench and Turner, 1953
  • Epitonium borealis
  • Epitonium bucknilli Powell, 1924
  • Epitonium caamanoi Dall and Bartsch, 1910
  • Epitonium candeanum (d'Orbigny, 1842)
  • Epitonium catalinae Dall, 1908
  • Epitonium celesti (Aradas, 1854)
  • Epitonium championi Clench and Turner, 1952
  • Epitonium clathratulum
  • Epitonium clathrum Linnaeus, 1758 - common wentletrap
  • Epitonium columbianum Dall, 1917
  • Epitonium dallianum (A. E. Verrill and S. Smith, 1880)
  • Epitonium denticulatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - tooth-rib wentletrap
  • Epitonium echinaticosta (d'Orbigny, 1842) - wide-coil wentletrap
  • Epitonium eulita (Dale and Simpson, 1901)
  • Epitonium foliaceicosta (d'Orbigny, 1842) - wrinkle-rib wentletrap
  • Epitonium fractum Dall, 1927 - humble wentletrap
  • Epitonium frielei (Dall, 1889)
  • Epitonium greenlandicum (G. Perry, 1811) - Greenland wentletrap
  • Epitonium humphreysii (Kiener, 1838)
  • Epitonium indianorum (Carpenter, 1864)
  • Epitonium jukesianum (Fosbes, 1852)
  • Epitonium krebsii (Morch, 1874)
  • Epitonium lamellosum (Lamarck, 1822) - lamellose wentletrap
  • Epitonium lowei (Dall, 1906)
  • Epitonium matthewsae Clench and Turner, 1952
  • Epitonium minora (Iredale, 1936)
  • Epitonium multistriatum (Say, 1826) - many-ribbed wentletrap
  • Epitonium nautlae Morch, 1874
  • Epitonium nitidella (Dall, 1889)
  • Epitonium nitidum
  • Epitonium novangliae (Couthouy, 1838) - New England wentletrap
  • Epitonium occidentale (Nyst, 1871) - fine-ribbed wentletrap
  • Epitonium pandion Clench and Turner, 1952
  • Epitonium phymanthi Robertson, 1994
  • Epitonium polacium (Dall, 1889)
  • Epitonium pourtalesii (A. E. Verrill and S. Smith, 1880)
  • Epitonium perplexum (Pease, 1867)
  • Epitonium rupicola (Kurtz, 1860) - brown-band wentletrap
  • Epitonium rushii (Dall, 1889) - frosted wentletrap
  • Epitonium sawinae (Dall, 1903)
  • Epitonium sericifilum (Dall, 1889) - silky wentletrap
  • Epitonium striatissimum (di Monterosato, 1878) - frosted wentletrap
  • Epitonium tenellum (Hutton, 1885)
  • Epitonium tollini Bartsch, 1938
  • Epitonium turtonae
  • Epitonium unifasciatum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - one-band wentletrap

[edit] References