Help with id please

[rcarichter]

Hello! Can anyone help with id one this one? It was found on the Caribbean side of Anguilla.  I've been collecting in the Caribbean for 25 years, but this one has me stumped.  Thanks!

Noelle


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[paul monfils]

This is an immature, "bulla stage", Cypraea cervus.

[rcarichter]

Thanks!  I've found a lot a cowries, never one at this stage.  Is this fairly common?  I've only ever collected in the Caribbean, never Florida.  If I found a really common shell, I'd hate to pass up the opportunity to be really embarrassed.  :-\ 

Noelle

[paul monfils]

Well, every cowrie starts out life this way, and grows this way until it reaches close to its full adult size.  So in that sense it is pretty common.  But good specimens in this stage are not too common as beach specimens because they are so thin and fragile that they tend to get broken up by surf.  When they do reach adult size, the thin lip curls under to form the typical cowrie aperture, the teeth begin to form along the aperture, and the adult pattern starts to be laid down over the immature banded pattern.