Epitonium
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 wentletraps is derived from the Dutch word "wenteltrap", denoting a spiral staircase. This refers 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 in the past by some authors into several subgenera, but these subgenera were based only on shell characters and did not reflect the true underlying relationships or phylogeny. Shell description . "Epitonium" shells are high-spired, and are all-white in most of the species within this genus. A few species are tinted with brown to varying degrees, or have a brown stripe on the shoulder of the whorl. The shells typically have blade-like vertical ribs, known as costae. Habitat. Wentletraps usually live in sand near sea anemones or corals. Life habits. These snails are predators and feed by inserting their proboscis and biting out small pieces of the anemone's tissues. Some species of wentletrap feed on only one species of sea anemone, in other words they are species -specific in terms of their prey. Synonymised genera. Many species that now are placed in the genus "Epitonium" have, over the years, been classified in other genera. These have become synonyms of "Epitonium" : Species. Species within the genus "Epitonium" include: Note: Some malacologists have recently placed many of the more than 600 named species into other genera, which were previously considered to be subgenera of the genus "Epitonium". On the other hand, many species that belonged to subgenera of "Epitonium" are now included in "Epitonium". These subgenera were based on details of the shell sculpture and not on molecular analysis