Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Subclass Orthogastropoda > Subclass Caenogastropoda > Order Neogastropoda > Superfamily Buccinoidea > Family Buccinidae > Subfamily Neptuneinae > Genus Neptunea

Neptunea contraria (Linnaeus, 1771)

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Original genus

Murex Linnaeus, 1758

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Neptunea*	Röding, 1798	accepted genus name
*Barbitonia*	Dall, 1916	synonym
*Chrysodomus*	Swainson, 1840	synonym
*Chrysodomus (Barbitonia)*	Dall, 1916	synonym
*Neptunea (Barbitonia)*	Dall, 1916	synonym
*Neptunia*	Locard, 1886	synonym

Species group names

*Fusus perversus*	Kiener, 1840	synonym
*Fusus sinistrorsus*	Deshayes, 1832	synonym

Vernaculars (+) (-)

English: left-handed neptune; left-handed whelk sources: Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.

German: Linksgewundenes Neptunshorn

Literature

basis of record	Fraussen K. & Terryn Y. (2007). The family Buccinidae. Genus Neptunea. In: A Conchological Iconography [Directed by Guido T. Poppe & Klaus Groh]. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 159 pp., 154 pls.
basis of record	Bouchet, P. & Warén, A. (1985). Revision of the Northeast Atlantic bathyal and abyssal Neogastropoda excluding Turridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Bollettino Malacologico. supplement 1: 121-296.
additional source	Rehder, H. A. (1942). The genotype of Neptunea. The Nautilus. 56(2): 69.
additional source	de Kluijver, M. J.; Ingalsuo, S. S.; de Bruyne, R. H. (2000). Macrobenthos of the North Sea [CD-ROM]: 1. Keys to Mollusca and Brachiopoda. World Biodiversity Database CD-ROM Series. Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI): Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ISBN 3-540-14706-3. 1 cd-rom.
additional source	Howson, C.M. & B.E. Picton. (1997). The species directory of the marine fauna and flora of the British Isles and surrounding seas. Ulster Museum Publication, 276. The Ulster Museum: Belfast, UK. ISBN 0-948150-06-8. vi, 508 (+ cd-rom) pp.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Neptunea contraria (Linnaeus, 1771). Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:138922