Dolphin shell

About this species

Angaria delphinus, common name the common delphinula, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc of the family Angariidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Angaria delphinus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 30 records
February: 25 records
March: 20 records
April: 11 records
May: 30 records
June: 32 records
July: 50 records
August: 40 records
September: 43 records
October: 32 records
November: 25 records
December: 18 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–38 m · Deepest record: 58.6 m

0–10 m: 15 records
10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 11 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 21 records
22–24 °C: 15 records
24–26 °C: 98 records
26–28 °C: 86 records
28–30 °C: 152 records

Photos

(c) CK2AZ, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Attila Oláh, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Karim Haddad, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Attila Oláh, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Dolphin shell, Dolphin snail, Common delphinula, dolphin shell, dolphin snail, Lacinate Dolphin Shell, laciniated dolphin shell

Names in 3 more languages

German: Delphinschnecke
Japanese: カタベガイ, リュウキュウカタベ
Simplified Chinese: 棘冠螺

Other scientific names: Angaria aculeata, Angaria arion, Angaria cincta, Angaria distorta, Angaria fossilis, Angaria laciniata, Angaria martinii, Angaria rosea, Angaria squamata, Angarina delphinus, Cyclostoma nigrum, Delphinula aculeata, Delphinula atrata, Delphinula delphinus, Delphinula distorta, Delphinula euracantha, Delphinula fossilis, Delphinula frondosa, Delphinula laciniata, Delphinula martinii, Delphinula spinosa, Turbo delphinus, Turbo distortus

Similar species

Kiener's delphinula
Angaria sphaerula
Black-tankard angaria
Angaria melanacantha
Angaria vicdani

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
619 open-data records from 1758 to 2012.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.