Turbo pallidus Montagu, 1803

Unverified

MATERIAL AT RAMM NOT TRACED. Jeffreys 1867, p. 126 writes "But the specimen now in the British Museum, which has the name "pallidus" in Montagu's handwriting affixed to the undersides of the tablet, is a broken and worn Rissoa parva var. interrupta. It is unfortunately to be probable that when Leach rearranged this part of the collection, sufficient care was not taken to preserve the identical specimens which had belonged to the first-named excellent zoologist, and that in the present case the type may be lost, and replaced by the wretched substitute now on the museum tablet" The shell now associated with the assumed type lot is not Rissoa parva but Ondina divisa (J. Adams, 1797) = Turbo insculptus Montagu, 1808 (pers comm Serge Gofas). The box does bear a label in Montagu's hand "palidus" but the remainder of the information is of more recent origin. The shell itself was attached to a narrow piece of black shiny paper, a format that is not associated with the original or subsequent mounting of the Montagu collection by Leach or Gray. If this is the lot that Jeffreys saw then the Rissoa shell has itself been replaced. The uncertain provenance indicates that this shell should not be regarded as the type of Turbo pallidus or indeed Turbo insculptus.

References are listed in chronological order. References containing the "Original Description" or "Type Designation" of Turbo pallidus Montagu, 1803 are highlighted in red.