Header Image
Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Janthina umbilicata

A. d'Orbigny, 1841

Description:

Dimensions range from 5 mm - 20.5 mm high and 9.5 mm - 19 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 01.9:1 ~ 0.93:1

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, evenly and strongly convex. Spire moderately tall, elevated and sharp. Suture deeply impressed. 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]; Korean Peninsular [NIBR, 2019:328]; Easter Island [Rehder, 1980:53]; Australian specimens range from northern Queensland southwards to eastern Victoria [Beechey, 2008]; entire Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas to Brazil [Rosenberg et al., 2009:643], Panamic Province [Keen, 1958:280]; Clipperton Island [Kaiser, 2007:33].


Habitat:

Pelagic; found washed up on ocean beaches.


Etymology:

.


SpeciesImage

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

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Type Material:

The following list brings together type material and other cited specimens as reported in the sources examined, grouped under the names and designations used in each source. The same specimen may appear in multiple entries drawn from different sources. Some entries concern other species included by authors for comparison; inclusion in this list does not imply synonymy.
Janthina umbilicata A. d'Orbigny, 1841SyntypeNHM 1854.12.4.403. Atlantic Ocean, [4 specimens]. [Natural History Museum, 2014: NHM 1854.12.4.403].NHM 1854.12.4.403. Atlantic Ocean, [4 specimens]. [Natural History Museum, 2014: NHM 1854.12.4.403].NHMUK1854.12.4.403. Atlantic Ocean, [4 specimens]. [Beu, 2017: 196].


Blainville, H. M. D. de (1822).
Shown in text as invalid: junior homonym of Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822 [January]
Species Image
pp: 155.
Orbigny, A. D. d' (1841).
Species Image
pp: 414.
original description
Reeve, L. A. (1858).
Species Image
Plate V. Fig. 22b.
Species Image
Plate V. Fig. 22a.
Species Image
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.
Keen, A. M. (1958).
Shown in text as Janthina globosa Blainville, 1822
Species Image
pp: 281. Fig. 168.
Beechey, D. (2008).
Species Image
pp: Janthina umbilicata. Fig. 1.
Manly Beach, NSW (C.056810)
Species Image
pp: Janthina umbilicata. Fig. 2.
Manly Beach, NSW (C.056810)
Beu, A. G. (2017).
Species Image
pp: 123. Plate 2. Fig. N.
Janthina umbilicata d Orbigny, GNS RM5627, Nukumaru Beach, Whanganui, New Zealand
Species Image
pp: 1232Q.
Janthina umbilicata d Orbigny, GNS RM5627, Nukumaru Beach, Whanganui, New Zealand

Synonymy:

invalid: junior homonym of Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822 [January] [Blainville, 1822: 155]
Janthina (lodina) umbilicata Orbigny, 1840 [Rehder, 1980: 53]
Janthina globosa Blainville, 1822 [Keen, 1958: 280; Kaiser, 2007: 33]


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. (2008u). Janthina_umbilicata. Seashells of NSW. 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]
Kaiser, K. L. (2007). The recent molluscan fauna of Île Clipperton (tropical eastern Pacific). The Festivus. 39(supplement). https://stri-apps.si.edu/docs/publications/pdfs/Ile_Clipperton_COMPLETE2.pdf [Accessed 14 November 2025]
Keen, A. M. (1958). Sea shells of tropical west America; marine mollusks from Lower California to Colombia. Stanford Univ. Press;
Natural History Museum (2014). NHM Collection specimens [Data set]. Natural History Museum. https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965 [Accessed 6 April 2026]
NIBR National Institute of Biological Resources, (2019). National Species List of Korea II. Vertebrates · Invertebrates · Protozoa. National Institute of Biological Resources.
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 [Accessed 12 July 2025]
Rehder, H.A. (1980). The Marine Mollusks of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Sala y Gomez. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. https://archive.org/details/marinemollusksof0000rehd [Accessed 28 February 2026]
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 at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record