Alessandro Spagnolini in 1870 believed the species may be what is now called Bolinopsis infundibulum, William M'Intosh claimed to have found it in Scotland in 1888, and Fanny Moser expanded the genus by adding L. hyboptera and L. tiedemanni in 1908.

Ole Theodor Jensen Mortensen agreed with Spagnolini in 1912, theorizing that L. vitrea was either a rare deep sea species, a heteromorphic form of B. infundibulum, or specimens of B. infundibulum that lost most of their lobes through damage or mutilation.

In 1957, Lesueuria vitrea was included in a species compendium, but with the note non revue depuis — "never seen again" since its first description.

Because of the likelihood that it is in fact a mutilated member of the genus Bolinopsis,[5] the name Lesueuria vitrea is considered uncertain, or a nomen dubium, by the World Register of Marine Species.

[1] In Milne-Edwards' original description, he noted the species' four auricles which look like ribbons, and its simple oral lobes.