Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Chiragra conch
No photo available
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Pet~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (view on Wikimedia Commons)Shell photo (empty shell), not the living animal.

Chiragra conch

Harpago chiragra

Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 564725, checked 2026-10-31).

English
Chiragra conch
Scientific
Harpago chiragra
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Sea snails
Family
Strombidae (conchs)
Maximum size
Up to about 32 cm (shell length)
Depth and habitat
Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 25 m
IUCN status
NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)

Description

The chiragra conch has a heavy shell with six long, curved spines around its outer lip, making it look like a clawed hand. The opening is glossy pink to orange. It lives on reef flats, seagrass and sand in shallow water, grazing on algae.

In the Maldives

Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=7); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=36, 29 observers).

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.