Mauritia histrio

Present in the Indian Ocean but not in Red Sea, the Mauritia histrio is a cowry common in the tidal zone. Apart the 88 m record, the shell usually measures 40-55 mm and has a characteristic polygonal mesh lattice brown on pale background often interrupted by an uncertain longitudinal band. It is a night gastropod, with dark grey foot and the head well separated with two black tentacles. The mantle covering the shell when the animal displaces looking for algae to gnaw, is brown-greyish with numerous short and conical sensory papillae © Giuseppe Mazza