''Epitonium scalare'',
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...
the precious wentletrap, is a
predatory
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...
or ecto
parasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
marine gastropod with an
operculum, in the family
Epitoniidae
Wentletraps are small, often white, very high-spired, predatory or ectoparasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Epitoniidae.Gofas, S. (2010). Epitoniidae. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollu ...
, the wentletraps.
[Rosenberg, G. (2010). Epitonium scalare (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207942 on 2010-11-22]
In the 17th and 18th century this was once considered to be a very rare shell and specimens changed hands for large sums of money.
Johan de la Faille and
Cosimo III de' Medici owned a wentletrap.
Distribution
This species is distributed in the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
, in the Indian Ocean along
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, in the South West Pacific Ocean and along
Fiji Islands and
Japan.
Shell description
Adult shells of this species attain a length of between 25 mm to 72 mm.
"''Epitonium scalare'' (Linnaeus, 1758) The Precious Wentletrap"
Jacksonville Shell Club, accessed 12 March 2010.
Many ''Epitonium'' species have shells that are very attractive and quite interesting in their structure. However this species is particularly striking, partly because it is very large compared with the great majority of other species within the genus, but also because the whorls themselves do not touch and so the shell is held together only by the well-developed ribs or costae.
File:Epitonium scalare.jpg
File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.MOLL.347109 - Epitonium scalare.jpg
The shell of ''Epitonium scalare'' has sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
consisting of raised ribs that are known as ''costae''. Costae are a very common feature in shells of many '' Epitonium'' species.
References
Further reading
Dance, S. Peter, 1969, ''Rare Shells'', University of California Press.128 p, 24 color plates,
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2007926
Epitoniidae
Gastropods described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus