(SYN!): Epitonium contorquata: Shell small, short, broad, acute, umbilicate, with rotund whorls loosely coiled, the later ones only joined by the fused varices; pure white, nucleus of four and a half translucent, flattened, smooth, shining whorls; the first extremely minute, the whole (in the type) set on obliquely to the axis of the adult, which has four and a half whorls, apparently smooth between the varices, but with extremely fine sharp spiral striae scattered here and there sparsely; aperture very slightly longer than wide, rounded; peristome slightly cancellately rugose on its anterior face ; varices on the last whorl twelve, attached to the front edges of those on the next above, thin, sharp, not wide, edge (when not chipped) simple, slightly produced behind near the sutures; base without rib or carina, with a narrow but deep umbilicus, around which the edges of the varices are not fused with one another. Lon. of shell, 4.7 mm; of last whorl, 3.2 mm; lat. 3.5 mm; max. diam. of aperture, 1.6 mm.

Distribution: South Carolina to Brazil; Texas; Bermuda. Size: 12 to 18 mm.
Description: Color white; shape globose, turbinate; sculpture of numerous, thin, bladelike costae that are slightly curved; 7 to 8 convex whorls attached by costae; suture distinct; relatively extended shoulder spire; aperture holostomatous; apertural lip broad, flattened exteriorly; operculum paucispiral, corneous.
Habitat: From just below the waterline to a depth of about 294 m (964 ft); in coral sand. Remarks: Pointed shoulder angles, bladelike costae, rounded whorls, and globose body whorl are distinctive features of this Epitonium. Protoconch of specimen in the photograph is broken off. See Clench and Turner (1951).

A most desirable species, uncommon but not rare. Reaching 18mm in length, a fat shell with an angle to spire of about 45 degrees. China white in color, but with a very thin shell so that, if live taken, the animal will cause the color of the shell to be somewhat darker. 7 to 8 whorls attached by the costae only, of which there are 10 to 12 on the body whorl. The costae are thin, blade-like, slightly recurved and continuous. There is no sculpture between the costae. No basal ridge, but a very distinct umbilicus. It ranges from south Florida and the Gulf of Mexico through the Caribbean to Colombia and is found from low water to a depth of over 150 fathoms.