Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Opalia spongiosa
espiral esponjoso, Snail
Height: 7 to 12.5 mm; diameter: 2.5 to 5 mm.
Shallow water (less than 200 m depth), subtidal.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Mollusca
Class
Gastropoda
Order
[unassigned] Caenogastropoda
Superfamily
Epitonioidea
Family
Epitoniidae
Genus
Opalia
Species
spongiosa
Taxon category: Accepted
LACM: AHF-400, AHF-402, AHF 157-34, AHF 173-34, AHF-MS-483; Syn.: Nodiscala spongiosa (Carpenter, 1866), Opalia retiporosa (Carpenter, 1866), Scalaria retiporosa Carpenter, 1866, fide Appeltans et al.(2010)
Origin: Native
Distribution: From Mexico (Monterrey),to south of gulf of California and Ecuador (Galapagos Islands)
- Finet, Y. (2001) The marine mollusks of the Galapagos Islands: a documented faunal list. Editions du Muséum d' Histoire naturelle, Genève, 237 pp.
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. Finet, Y. (1999) A Field Guide to the Marine Molluscs of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia, 150 pp.
- Finet, Y. (1991) The Marine Mollusks of the Galapagos Islands. In: Galápagos Marine Invertebrate. Taxonomy, Biogeography, and Evolution in Darwin's Islands. Plenum Press. New York and London, p. 253-280.
- Keen, A.M. (1958) Sea Shells of Tropical West America. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, 1st edition, 624 pp.
- Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Opalia spongiosa", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=8687. Accessed 2 August 2025.