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Spotted cowrie pair

Julie Hatcher

Spotted cowrie

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Scientific name: Trivia monacha
This small sea snail is easily identifiable by the 3 brown spots on the top of its shell.

Top facts

Stats

Length: 1cm

Conservation status

Common

When to see

January to December

About

Also known as the common cowrie, the spotted cowrie has an unmistakeable ridged egg-shaped shell with a narrow opening along the underside. It lives on rocky shores and under stones at, or below, the low tide mark. They feed on sea squirts and compound ascidians, such as the star ascidian - a beautiful feature of rocky shores. The pretty shells are sometimes found washed up on beaches.

What to look for

The spotted cowrie shell is a pale reddish-brown with cream ridges. They have three dark brown spots on the shell which give them their name and can be used to distinguish them from the similar Artic cowrie, Trivia arctica, which lacks spots. The head, tentacles, foot and body of this mollusc are brightly coloured - they may be red, yellow, green, brown or orange; but it is the shell you're likely to spot washed up on the beach.

Where to find

Found all around our coasts, although rare in Lincolnshire and East Anglia.

Habitats

Did you know?

The spotted cowrie is often found associated with its prey: it feeds on sea squirts by biting lumps from them. Females even lay their eggs in the sea squirts by biting holes in the colonies and then laying their egg capsules into the hole. After a few weeks the larvae hatch.