Description

Also known as Allied Cowy, Common Calpurnus, Egg Cowry, False Cowry, Little Egg Cowry, Soft Coral Snail, Umbilical Cowry, Umbilical Egg Shell, Umbilical Ovula, Warted Egg Cowry, Warty Egg Cowry, Warty Egg Shell, Warty Little Egg Cowry.

Found during the day, under soft corals, rocks and sponges, in shallow to deeper waters, spreading their mantles at night to feed on coral polyps.
They feed on the polyps of leather corals.
Length -3.5cm
Depth - 1-50m
Widespread Western Pacific

These snails have large colourful mantles black with yellow and white spots which completely cover the shell.
Often mistaken for Nudi's!
Distinct from true Cowries by teeth on only one side of aperture or none at all.

Cypraeidae have beautiful shells and equally beautiful mantles.
The Cowries are probably the most admired and sought after by shell collectors.
Cowries have few predators, but the mollusc-eating cones like Conus textile and octopus can inject venom into the cowry's flesh through a small hole and then sucks out the contents.
The mantle is like a cloak around the shell, highly muscular and when it contracts it forces water through the tubular siphon to propel itself rapidly through the water. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpurnus_verrucosus