Prickly Horn Snail

Cerithium echinatum

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth3–37 m
Water temperature21–30 °C
Best monthsAugust, October, and December
How commonCommon

All species

Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cerithium echinatum is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cerithiidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cerithium echinatum”, 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: 12 records
February: 11 records
March: 20 records
April: 8 records
May: 17 records
June: 17 records
July: 17 records
August: 28 records
September: 27 records
October: 28 records
November: 12 records
December: 39 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–37 m · Deepest record: 65 m

0–10 m: 15 records
10–20 m: 16 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 19 records
24–26 °C: 85 records
26–28 °C: 112 records
28–30 °C: 70 records

Photos

(c) Takaaki Hattori, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Takaaki Hattori, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Prickly Horn Snail

Names in 3 more languages

French: Cérithe hérissé
Japanese: メオニノツノガイ
Simplified Chinese: 棘蟹守螺

Other scientific names: Cerithium (Thericium) mutatum, Cerithium adansoni, Cerithium album, Cerithium mutatum, Cerithium rubus, Cerithium tuberculiferum, Gourmya echinata, Murex serratus

Similar species

Pillar Creeper
Cerithium columna
Coral Cerith
Cerithium coralium
Cerithium nesioticum
Nadelschnecke giant knobbed cerith
Cerithium nodulosum
Cerithium rostratum
Cerithium zebrum

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).
118,830 open-data records from 1822 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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