Vexillum (Pusia) recurvirostris (Sowerby, 1908)
Length: 16.0mm, Width: 6.3mm, Height: 6.0mm. Scuba, night, approximately 45 ft. Crawling over red algae underneath a reef ledge. Agat Bay, Guam. Collected by Steve Norby on 18 February 2005.
Distribution: Full range not entirely clear, it is recorded from Guam, Philippines, and Tahiti.
Habitat: Live specimens typically found very deep within coral rubble.
Availability: Rare
Size: 14 to 18mm appears to be the typical size range for Guam specimens.
Comments: It was not surprising to discover that the animal was very light shy. The color form illustrated here appears to be the one most often encountered.
References:
Robin, Alain & Jean-Claude Martin. 2004. Mitridae Costellariidae. p. 28. pl. C-28.
Salisbury, Richard. 2000. Costellariidae of the World. Part 4. (Species R-Z). Of Sea and Shore 23(2):70,75. fig. 225.
(errata: captions on bottom of page 70 are transposed. Line out 224 and re-label as 225, and vice versa. The newly labeled Fig 225 is in reference to the second image from the left, which is V. (P.) recurvirostris.)
Links:
- Hardy's Identification Guide to Marine Gastropods
- Les coquillages de Polynésie française - Image One | Image Two
- Emmanuel Guillot de Suduiraut's Mitroidea
- OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database