Nassarius papillosus is one of the two largest species of this family at Kwaj, with the largest specimens reaching at least 41.7mm. It is a very common species, often seen on lagoon. It can also commonly be found in sand under rocks during the day, or even buried in small pockets of sand collected on the tops of lagoon pinnacles on on the shallow seaward reef. A very active shell, it can move quickly. It appears to be a favorite food of the large textile cone Conus textile, but is often able to escape being eaten by twisting its foot and hopping away from a predatory cone. It is commonly called the "pimpled basket" for obvious reasons. The first photo below was taken in Hawaii.
Its egg capsules are small round balls deposited close together on the undersurfaces of rocks. Two different animals with differnet egg masses observed on a single day are below.
Created 28 May 2011
Updated 19 March 2021