Matthews Wentletrap, Epitonium matthewsae Clench and Turner, 1952, was named in 1952 by Museum of Comparative Zoology's (Harvard University) curators Drs. William Clench and Ruth Turner to honor Sanibel's one and only Charlotta Matthews, a member of that family of Sanibel pioneers and founders of the Island Inn. The Matthews Wentletrap was first named as a subspecies of Epitonium multistriatum (say, 1826), and later shown to be a separate entity from that western Atlantic species. The Matthews Wentletrap has an elegant shell, with narrow spire angle, and a delicate sculpture of thin ribs crossed by many, fine spiral lines, or striae.
Matthews Wentletrap, Epitonium matthewsae. Photos by José H. Leal.