Lophiotoma murrayana ( Pritchard, 1904 )

Lophiotoma murrayana ( Pritchard, 1904) View in CoL

Figure 6E View FIGURE 6

Pattern description. Yellow-orange fluorescence. The ridged surface of the whorls shows fluorescence of lined chevrons, the apex of which point dextrally. Occasional fainter fluorescence in the depressed areas of the whorls showing vertical wavy lines continuing from the chevrons.

Comment. The patterns revealed here support the recent reassignment of L. murrayana from Lucerapex to Lophiotoma , where it had previously been placed. The move to Lucerapex was made by Powell (1963) who felt the original description of the species better matched Lucerapex , but did not study any specimens directly. Darragh (2024) returned L. murrayana back to Lophiotoma . Modern Lophiotoma frequently display patterns like what is observed here, whereas modern Lucerapex are described to typically be devoid of pattern and colour, with most species being pure white ( Powell, 1966). Thus, we support the assignment to Lophiotoma proposed by Darragh (2024).