Pointy bum Cowrie

[justfishing80]

<img src="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2473.jpg" alt="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2473.jpg" style="border:0" /><img src="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2470.jpg" alt="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2470.jpg" style="border:0" /><img src="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2471.jpg" alt="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/IMGP2471.jpg" style="border:0" /><img src="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/031.jpg" alt="http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/justfishing80/031.jpg" style="border:0" />
This is a Cowrie i found dead in a cave near an inshore island off Cairns QLD,never seen a pointy bum like it and looked in two books-nothing..Any help?

[dave r]

Looks to be a juvenile M. eglantina. All cowries have a spire and grow like normal snails when they are young, what you can see is the spire of the shell where it is growing in a normal, spiral way. Once the shell reaches maturity the spire becomes calloused-over and the lips become thicker. Also the pattern is 'smudged' in a typical juvenile cowry way. Ironically the Eglantine Cowry usually has the tip of the spire still showing in adulthood, it is one of very few cowries that have this feature.
Hope this is of help.
Dave