Review of the Voluta musica Complex

Abstract

The distinctive morphology, color pattern, and isolated geographic locations of the various proposed taxa of the Voluta musica complex are discussed and specimens of the various taxa are illustrated. From the Miocene to the present, during interglacial times and the associated higher sea levels during the Neogene, evidence shows that populations of ancestral V. musica had become genetically isolated on offshore islands resulting in a species swarm of closely-related allopatric species. The following taxa are recognized as full species, and these include: Voluta musica, V. carneolata, V. thiarella, V. damula, and V. typica.