English Translation of Tadashige Habe (1970): Original Description of Tarantellaxis kuroharai n. gen. et sp. (now Babelomurex kuroharai) (GASTROPODA: Muricidae: Coralliophilinae)

Abstract: This study presents the first English translation of Tadashige Habe’s (1970) protologue of Tarantellaxis kuroharai n. gen. et sp., originally published in Venus (Japanese Journal of Malacology). The species, later placed in synonymy with Babelomurex Coen, 1922, is currently accepted as Babelomurex kuroharai (Habe, 1970) (Muricidae: Coralliophilinae), according to MolluscaBase (AphiaID: 550012). To ensure nomenclatural traceability, the original publication and associated names were registered in ZooBank (9 September 2025). Searches of MolluscaBase, GBIF, MNHN, and Japanese museum catalogues confirmed only two verifiable records: the holotype and a bathyal specimen from Vanuatu (MNHN IM-2008-253, 243-280 m), reported by Oliverio (2008). Secondary mentions include depictions in Lan’s The Classic Shells of the World (1993) and a review by Sage (1994). Morphological comparison highlights the species’ uniqueness among Pacific congeners and its resemblance to the Atlantic B. juliae, raising questions of convergent evolution versus shared ancestry. This integrated account supports future systematic and biogeographic research on deep-water coralliophiline gastropods.