Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Subclass Orthogastropoda > Subclass Heterobranchia > Infraclass Euthyneura > Subterclass Tectipleura > Order Cephalaspidea > Superfamily Bulloidea > Family Retusidae > Genus Retusa

Retusa obtusa (Montagu, 1803)

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Retusa*	T. Brown, 1827	accepted genus name
*Cryptaxis*	Jeffreys, 1883	junior homonym
*Utriculus*	T. Brown, 1844	junior homonym
*Bulla (Retusa)*	T. Brown, 1827	synonym
*Coleophysis*	P. Fischer, 1883	synonym
*Cylichnina*	Monterosato, 1884	synonym
*Mamilloretusa*	F. Nordsieck, 1972	synonym
*Retusa (Coleophysis)*	P. Fischer, 1883	synonym
*Retusa (Cylichnina)*	Monterosato, 1884	synonym
*Retusa (Retusa)*	T. Brown, 1827	synonym

Species group names

*Bulla obtusa*	Montagu, 1803	synonym
*Bulla turrita*	Møller, 1842	synonym
*Retusa obtusa var. turrita*	(Møller, 1842)	synonym
*Utriculus obtusus*	(Montagu, 1803)	synonym
*Utriculus obtusus var. semistriata*	Jeffreys, 1869	synonym
*Retusa obtusa var. lajonkaireana*	(Basterot, 1825), sensu Jeffreys, 1867	misapplied name

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Dutch: oubliehoren; oubliehorentje sources: Adema, J.P.H.M.; de Bruyne, R.H.; Perk, F.A. (1989). Preliminary name list of marine molluscs and shells, regularly washed ashore along the coasts of the Netherlands and Belgium [Voorlopige naamlijst van de mariene mollusken en de regelmatig langs de kust van Nederland en België aangespoelde schelpensoorten]. De Strandvlo 9(2): 49-59;Hayward, P.; Nelson-Smith, A.; Shields, C. (1999). Gids van kust en strand: flora en fauna [Coast and beach guide: flora and fauna]. Tirion: Baarn, Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-327-5. 352, ill. pp.

English: Arctic barrel-bubble; pearl bubble sources: North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS);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.

French: bulle arctique sources: Bousfield, E. L. (1964). Coquillages des cotes canadiennes de l'Atlantique. Musée national du Canada. Ottawa. 89 p.

German: Kopfschildschnecke

Literature

basis of record	Valdés A. (2019). Northeast Pacific benthic shelled sea slugs. Zoosymposia. 13: 242-304.
basis of record	Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.
additional source	Abbott, R. T. (1974). American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974].
additional source	Berry, A. J. (1994). Foraminiferan prey in the annual life cycle of the predatory opisthobranch gastropod Retusa obtusa (Montagu). Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. 38(6): 603-612.
additional source	Chaban, E.; Ekimova, I.; Stanovova, M.; Schepetov, D. (2023). Integrative analysis of Retusa pertenuis (Heterobranchia: Cephalaspidea) from Arctic and Russian Far East seas with discussion of Its morphology, validity and population structure. Diversity. 15(9): 974.
additional source	Ceulemans, L.; Van Dingenen, F.; Landau B. M. (2018). The lower Pliocene gastropods of Le Pigeon Blanc (Loire-Atlantique, northwest France). Part 5 – Neogastropoda (Conoidea) and Heterobranchia (fine). Cainozoic Research. 18(2): 89-176.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Retusa obtusa (Montagu, 1803). 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:141134