New records for the pleustonic snails Janthina and Recluzia (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) for Chile

Abstract

Janthina and Recluzia species are pleustonic snails that feed on cnidarians and can be easily differentiated by their shells, which are of a striking purple to violet-blue hue in Janthina, and whitish to brownish in Recluzia. In the southeastern Pacific off Chile, four of the five extant Janthina species and a single species of Recluzia have been recorded. In this work, we present new records for Janthina janthina (Linnaeus, 1758) for specimens collected at San Felix Island, in the Desventuradas Islands, and for Recluzia lutea (Bennet, 1840) for a specimen collected at Robinson Crusoe Island, in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. These records fill a gap in the geographical distribution of J. janthina in the southeastern Pacific and extend the distribution of R. lutea in about 3000 km from its previous record at Easter Island, being the most easterly record for the species.

Keywords

• Cnidaria
• neustonic gastropods
• new records
• South Pacific