No photo available
Bull mouth snail
Cypraecassis rufa
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 217000, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Bull mouth snail
- Scientific
- Cypraecassis rufa
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Sea snails
- Family
- Cassidae (helmet shells)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 18 cm (shell length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 12 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The bull mouth snail has a heavy, knobby, reddish-orange shell with a broad, ridged shield around the opening. It lives on sand and rubble near reefs and feeds on sea urchins.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=8); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=3, 3 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Cypraecassis-rufa.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=217000
- inaturalist.org /taxa/447174
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Cypraecassis_rufa_ventral_view.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.