Epitonium

Taxobox
name = "Epitonium"

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image_caption = Two shells of "Epitonium humphreysii"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
subclassis = Prosobranchia
ordo = Heterogastropoda
familia = Epitoniidae
genus = "Epitonium"
genus_authority = Röding, 1798
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.
synonyms =

"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.

hell 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.

Habitat

Wentletraps usually live in sand near sea anemones or corals.

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.

pecies 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 aculeatum" (Allan, 1818)
* "Epitonium albidum" (d'Orbigny, 1842) - bladed wentletrap
* "Epitonium algerianum" (Weinkauff, 1866)
* "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 clathratulum" (Kanmacher, 1798)
* "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 commune" (Lamarck., 1822)
* "Epitonium dallianum" (A. E. Verrill and S. Smith, 1880)
* "Epitonium dendrophylliae" Bouchet & Warén, 1986
* "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 hispidulum" (Monterosato, 1874)
* "Epitonium humphreysii" (Kiener, 1838)
* "Epitonium indianorum" (Carpenter, 1864)
* "Epitonium jukesianum" (Fosbes, 1852)
* "Epitonium krebsii" (Morch, 1874)
* "Epitonium lamellosum" (Lamarck, 1822) - lamellose wentletrap
* "Epitonium linctum" (De Boury & Monterosato, 1890)
* "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 pseudonanum" Bouchet & Warén, 1986
* "Epitonium rugosum"
* "Epitonium pulchellum" (Ant. Bivona, 1832)
* "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 tiberii" (De Boury, 1890)
* "Epitonium tollini" Bartsch, 1938
* "Epitonium tryoni" (De Boury, 1913)
* "Epitonium turtoni" (Turton, 1819)] "
* "Epitonium unifasciatum" (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) - one-band wentletrap

ee also

* Wentletrap, an article about the family Epitoniidae.

References

*
* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1