Staphylaea limacina (Lamarck, 1810)
Limacina cowry, 19-28mm

This is another of the big rarities in the Marshall Islands, although it is found commonly in some other parts of the Indo-Pacific. Only a few specimens have been seen, all in Kwajalein lagoon. Specimens have been found off Kwajalein’s Emon Beach and under rocks on the top of N-buoy pinnacle at depths of 5-10m. It resembles the more common Staphylaea staphylaea, but has low coarse sparse warts rather than the finely pustulose dorsum and its teeth do not extend all the way across the base. Staphylaea limacina ranges in the Indo-Pacific except for Hawaii and southeastern Polynesia.

Thenext photo shows one of the Kwajalein shells. No photo of a living Kwajalein specimen is currently available.

The live animal photo below was taken at Bali, Indonesia.

Created 1 April 2008
Updated 23 February 2020

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