Epitonium scalare

Scalare case of Epitonium

The True spiral staircase ( Epitonium scalare ) is a spiral staircase worm ( Epitoniidae ), which is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific.

Features

Epitonium scalare is one of the greatest representatives of the spiral staircase snails. The right-handed, tower -shaped housing, which can be up to 7 cm long, with 8-9 whorls strongly rounded, which are not connected by a seam, but by combining the lamellar ribs. The thread is high and has an acute apex. Between the ribs, the surface is smooth. The case mouth is ovate.

The thick black operculum is ovate and has about 4 turns and an indented nucleus in the posterior third toward the inner edge.

Occurrence, distribution and life

The worm lives below the intertidal zone of sandy or muddy ground to 29 m depth.

It is in the Red Sea, distributed in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar and South Africa and in the southwestern Pacific to Fiji and Japan.

Over the life of these Wendeltreppenschneckenart there has been no detailed scientific investigations.

Use

The True spiral staircase is collected because of their housing. The snail was once considered very rare. In the 19th century, with snail shells of Epitonium scalare such high prices achieved that were made according to legend fakes made ​​of rice paper. However, these fakes have never been found in recent times.