Group photo ID help

[MarkLF]

Paul has allready helped me ID the top right shell in this first photo as Mauritia maculifera and the bottom left shell as possibly Mauritia eglantina, any suggestions on the others?

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[paul monfils]

The two shells together both appear to be M. eglantina.  The three smaller ones in the row of four all appear to be M. arabica.  The middle one of those three is slightly immature, with a prominent spire and the adult pattern not fully formed.

[MarkLF]

Thanks Paul; The slightly immature M. arabica you mentioned has some scarring on it, any idea's what could cause this.

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[paul monfils]

Such scarring indicates that a break occurred in the shell, which the animal then repaired by laying down new shell material to fill the break.  When Cypraeidae are juvenile, the shell is much more thin and fragile than in the adult form, and there is a thin lip which is easily broken, not a central aperture with teeth on both sides as in the adult.  A shell break can occur various ways, including predators (fish, crabs, octopus, etc.); being tossed by heavy surf on the reef; trawlers, etc.  If the shell is badly crushed, the snail will usually die.  But if a piece of shell is just broken out of the lip, the snail can repair the break, leaving a scar, and continue growing.

[Bart]

From the top 4 specimens: no. 1,2 and 3 are Cypraea arabica, number 4 maculifera and the pair
on the 2nd row is Cypraea eglantina