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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Janthina umbilicata

d'Orbigny, 1841

Description:

Dimensions range from 5 mm - 25 mm high and 4 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.8:1 ~ 0.16:1

Shell: globose, bulbous oval; thin, lightweight; minute to moderately small. Exterior colour violet, with a narrow, diffuse paler band below the suture. About 5 whorls. Spire elevated and sharp. Umbilicate: closed or partly open as slight chink. Intercostal spaces whorls with strong V shaped growth lines which follow the shape of the lip. Base a few weak spirals grooves on base. Aperture angular, large, greater than half of the shell height, lip lip sharply notched; outer lip with a deep sinus at periphery.


Distribution:

Worldwide in tropical and temperate seas including Hawaii, Western Australia, Arabian Sea, Natal, South Africa, West Africa (DuShane 1990: 4), New Zealand [Beu, 2017], Australian specimens range from northern Queensland southwards to eastern Victoria [Beechey, 2008]; entire Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas to Brazil [Rosenberg et al', 2009:643]; Clipperton Island [Kaiser, 2007:33]


Habitat:

Pelagic; found washed up on ocean beaches.


Type Material:

MCZ 187393 (holotype) figured in DuShane (1990: 11, fig. 9). [as Janthina prolongata Blainville, 1822] - Type Locality: Oahu, Hawaii.. [Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015]


SpeciesImage

Reeve, L. A. (1858). Plate V. Fig. 22b.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Blainville, H. M. D. de (1822).
Shown in text as invalid: junior homonym of Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822 [January]
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pp: 155.
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1841).
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pp: 414.
original description
Reeve, L. A. (1858).
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Plate V. Fig. 22b.
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Plate V. Fig. 22a.
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Shell somewhat globose-ovate, thin, translucent, with a turbinated spire; whorls rounded, very finely concentrically striated, the striae sinuated into a keel at mid-whorl; violet; columella straight, slightly reflexed, somewhat umbilicate.
Beechey, D. (2008).
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pp: Janthina umbilicata. Fig. 1.
Manly Beach, NSW (C.056810)
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pp: Janthina umbilicata. Fig. 2.
Manly Beach, NSW (C.056810)
Beu, A. G. (2017).
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pp: 123. Plate 2. Fig. N.
Janthina umbilicata d Orbigny, GNS RM5627, Nukumaru Beach, Whanganui, New Zealand
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pp: 1232Q.
Janthina umbilicata d Orbigny, GNS RM5627, Nukumaru Beach, Whanganui, New Zealand

Synonymy:

invalid: junior homonym of Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822 [January] [in Blainville, H. M. D. de, 1822].
Janthina globosa Blainville, 1822 [in Rosenberg, G., Moretzsohn, F. & García, E., 2009].
Janthina prolongata Blainville, 1822 [in Brown, L. & Neville, B.D., 2015].


Source Literature:

Abubakr, M., M. (2004). The Republic of Yemen Marine Biotic Ecosystem (Resources, Habitats, and Species). The Republic of Yemen Ministry of Water and Environmnet and Environment Protction Authority. https://ye.chm-cbd.net/sites/ye/files/2022-05/Marine%20species%20in%20Yemen.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2025]
Barnard, K. H. (1963). Contributions to the knowledge of South African marine Mollusca. Part III. Gastropoda: Prosobranchiata: Taenioglossa. Annals of the South African Museum.. 47(1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40854388 [Accessed 26 December 2025]
Beechey, D. (2008). Shells NSW -Janthina_umbilicata. https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Janthinidae/Pages/Janthina_umbilicata.htm [Accessed 10 May 2023]
Beu, A. G. (2017). Evolution of Janthina and Recluzia. Records of the Australian Museum. 69(3). The Australian Museum. 10.3853/j.2201-4349.69.2017.1666 [Accessed 6 December 2023]
Blainville, H. M. D. de (1822). Janthine, Janthina.. Dictonnaire des Sciences Naturelles (F. Cuvier,). 24. Levrault, Strasbourg & Le Normant, Paris.. http://books.google.fr/books?id=d5M5AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA148 [Accessed 30 May 2025]
Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2015). Catalog of the recent taxa of the families Epitoniidae and Nystiellidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with a bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. Zootaxa. 3907(1). Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3907.1.1 [Accessed 22 October 2023]
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1841). Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale. Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale. 5(3). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49211253 [Accessed 17 March 2025]
Reeve, L. A. (1858). Monograph of the genus Ianthina. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals. 11. L. Reeve & Co., London.. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8183142 [details] [Accessed 12 July 2025]
Rosenberg, G., Moretzsohn, F. & García, E. (2009). Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico: Its Origins, Waters, and Biota.Vol 1: Biodiversity. D. L. Felder & D. K. Camp, eds,. Texas A & M University Press
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record