| Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822 |
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Worldwide warm seas. Pleustonic floating predator, sometimes attached to the Hydrozoa which it feeds on, more often found on the underside of a bubble-raft it secretes.
Synonyms: nitens, prolongata, splendens…
Beached, Castellaneta Marina, Taranto, Puglia, S. Italy. 16mm. |
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Specimens from Pacific area.
Left: W. Mexico, 21mm; right: E. Taiwan, 33mm. |
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Ianthina fragilis (top) and Ianthina globosa (bottom) in W. Swainson: Zoological Illustrations vol. II, London 1821-1822, plate 85.
« Shell ventricose, the base lengthened ; aperture longer than broad ; outer lip slightly emarginate. The notch, which in I. fragilis extends the whole length of the lip, in this, is verv slight, and nearly central. Mr. Dubois has enabled me to figure it from specimens in the greatest perfection ; it is much less common than the last. » – Janthina fragilis Lamarck is a synonym of Janthina janthina Lin. |
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| A specimen from Natal, South Africa. 28mm. |
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| Washed ashore, Palmilla Beach, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas. Original picture provided by F. Moretzsohn for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC). |