No photo available
Little ass cowrie
Palmadusta asellus
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 216882, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Little ass cowrie
- Scientific
- Palmadusta asellus
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Cowries
- Family
- Cypraeidae (cowries)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 2.8 cm (length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 2 to 16 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
A small cowrie, usually under 2 cm, with a white shell crossed by three broad, dark brown to black bands. It lives under rocks and coral rubble on shallow reefs.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=24); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=30, 17 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Palmadusta-asellus.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216882
- inaturalist.org /taxa/368749
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Palmadusta_asellus_01.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.