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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Recluzia lutea

(Bennett, 1840)

Description:

Dimensions range from 11 mm - 23 mm high and 7 mm - 15 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.64:1 ~ 0.65:1

Shell: Globose; thin; small to moderately small. Exterior colour yellowish to light tan with faint streaks. About 5.5 whorls, smooth and, lightly polished, growth lines present which are raised slightly at the suture; teleoconch with 4.5-5.5 whorls. Suture simple. : imperforate. Columella curved, somewhat thickened, slightly reflected,white, with a thin callus joining the lip and a small plication. Aperture roundly ovate, large, about 3/4 of the shells height.


Distribution:

Tropical and temperate oceans. Indo-West Pacific; Tarawa & Gilbert Islands [Smith, 1865]; Solomon Islands, New Zealand, NSW, Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, as well as wetsern and nortehrn Australia; central Japan; Red Sea [Beu, 2017:206]; Eastern Pacific; entire Gulf of Mexico, East Florida to Brazil [Rosenberg et al, 2009]; Brazil [Rios, 1985:160]; Natal to Cape Town, South Africa [Barnard, 1963:108]


Habitat:

pelargic


Etymology:

[latin] from luteus = yellow or golden yellow, in reference to the colour of the shell


Type Material:

Bue (2017: 204) discusses the absence type material in any museum he consulted and designated the remaining syntype of Recluzia jehennei, MNHN25667 as the neotype of Janthina lutea Bennett, 1840. for Recluzia lutea (Bennett, 1840). [Beu, A. G., 2017]
Syntype: NHMUK 1876.1.10.119 [as Recluzia Globosa Smith, 1865] - Type Locality: Tarawa, Gilbert Group. [Smith, E.A., 1865]


SpeciesImage

Beu, A. G. (2017). pp: 202. Plate 36. Fig. F-G.

Recluzia lutea, MNHN IM.25667, syntype
of Recluzia jehennei Petit de la Saussaye and neotype designated of Recluzia lutea Bennett, of Janthina turrita Philippi and of Recluzia rollandiana Petit de la Saussaye; Gulf of Arabia (MNHN photos).

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Bennett, F.D. (1840).
Species Image
pp: 63.
Original descriiption
Smith, E.A. (1865).
Shown in text as Recluzia Globosa Smith, 1865
Species Image
pp: 551.
Species Image
Plate XXX. Fig. 8.
Keen, A. M. (1958).
Shown in text as Recluzia palmeri (Dall, 1871)
Species Image
pp: 281. Fig. 172.
Barnard, K. H. (1963).
Shown in text as Recluzia jehennei Petit de la Saussaye, 1853
Species Image
pp: 108.
Beu, A. G. (2017).
Species Image
pp: 123. Plate 2. Fig. S-T.
Recluzia lutea (Bennett), GNS RM6748, beach, Great Exhibition Bay, Northland, New Zealand (from same sample as Figs 36M
Species Image
pp: 202. Plate 36. Fig. F-G.
Recluzia lutea, MNHN IM.25667, syntype
of Recluzia jehennei Petit de la Saussaye and neotype designated of Recluzia lutea Bennett, of Janthina turrita Philippi and of Recluzia rollandiana Petit de la Saussaye; Gulf of Arabia (MNHN photos).

Synonymy:

Recluzia globosa E. A. Smith, 1876 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Recluzia Globosa Smith, 1865 [in Smith, E.A., 1865].
Recluzia jehennei Petit de la Saussaye, 1853 [in Barnard, K. H. , 1963].
Recluzia jehennei Petit de la Saussaye, 1853 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Recluzia palmeri (Dall, 1871) [in Dall, W. H., 1865].
Recluzia palmeri (Dall, 1871) [in Keen, A. M., 1958].
Recluzia rollandiana Petit de la Saussaye, 1853 [in Rios, E.C., 1985].
Recluzia rollandiana Petit de la Saussaye, 1853, Recluzia rollandiana var. annamitica Wattebled, 1886 [in Tryon, G.W., 1887].
Recluzia rollandiana Petit, 1853 [in Rosenberg, G., Moretzsohn, F. & García, E., 2009].


Source Literature:

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]
Bennett, F.D. (1840). Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836. Comprising sketches of Polynesia, California, the Indian Archipelago, etc. with an account of southern whales, the sperm whale fishery, and the natural history of the climates visited. 2. Richard Bentley.. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17883468 [Accessed 20 June 2025]
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]
Dall, W. H. (1865). Descriptions of Sixty New Forms of Mollusks From the West Coast of North America and the North Pacific Ocean, With Notes on Others Already Described.. American journal of conchology. 7(2). Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15918252 [Accessed 20 June 2025]
Keen, A. M. (1958). Sea shells of tropical west America; marine mollusks from Lower California to Colombia. Stanford Univ. Press;
Rios, E.C. (1985). Seashells of Brazil. Fundação Universidade do Rio Grande.
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
Smith, E.A. (1865). A List of Marine Shells, chiefly from the Solomon Islands, with Descriptions of several new Species.. The Journal of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology. 12(64). Linnean Society of London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31982174 [Accessed 20 June 2025]
Tryon, G.W. (1887). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic with illustrations of the species. IX. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11026889 [Accessed 20 September 2025]
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record