Cypraea pantherina

The Cypraea pantherina is a species endemic to the Red Sea and the adjacent zones including the Gulf of Aden. It has then recently reached the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal with finds at Malta and Lampedusa. It moves usually during the day over the madre Cypraea pantherina pores and is an easy prey even for green divers. It nourishes, between 3-40 m of depth, of polyps of madrepores, invertebrates, algae, and, when the case, of dead fishes and other corpses. The elegant shell usually with brown spots and soft edge on a light background, can be also almost white or dark brown. Usually measures about 6 cm but can reach exceptionally an almost double size © Giuseppe Mazza