Critter identification

[Vagabonding]

I saw this lil guy on a night dive on the Prince Albert in Roatan (picture link below). It was roughly the size of two fists put together. I looked through my identification books and came up with nothing. It's always great to run into stuff you've never seen or heard of before.

http://tinyurl.com/r8a62

thanks

Ben

 

[knotical]

Nice picture!

At the right end it looks like the siphon and tentacle of a mollusk; and at the bottom left and center could be a mollusk foot. Perhaps you’ve photographed a cowry with its mantle fully extended. I think it’s an Atlantic Deer Cowry (Cypraea cervus).

I've never seen one underwater. I'm jealous!

 

[Rick Murchison]

That's a Cowry alright... which one, I can't say...
Rick

 

[LeslieH]

Definitely a cowry. I've sent it to our collections manager, Lindsey Groves, who's a cowry expert for an id.

 

[LeslieH]

Quick response from Lindsey: " Possibly Macrocypraea cervus but it has not been documented from Honduras ... only Florida, Bahamas, and Veracruz, Mexico. On the other hand Macrocypraea zebra is known from eastern Central America and the mantle is more reminiscent of M. zebra."

Some of the species of Cypraea have been transferred to the genus Macrocypraea.

 

[Vagabonding]

Thanks for the responses!