Cominella adspersa

About this species

Cominella adspersa, the speckled whelk or kawari in Maori, is a predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cominellidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cominella adspersa”, 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: 131 records
February: 76 records
March: 84 records
April: 83 records
May: 82 records
June: 56 records
July: 72 records
August: 52 records
September: 92 records
October: 136 records
November: 108 records
December: 143 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–17 m · Deepest record: 44 m

0–10 m: 21 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–18 °C

12–14 °C: 7 records
14–16 °C: 8 records
16–18 °C: 33 records

Photos

(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Lisa Bennett · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jacqui Geux, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Jacqui Geux · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Stephens, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julia Palmer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) John Barkla, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

Other scientific names: Acominia adspersa, Buccinum adspersum, Buccinum affinis, Buccinum maculatum, Buccinum melo, Buccinum quoyii, Buccinum turgitum, Cominella (Cominella) adspersa, Cominella maculata, Purpura maculata

Similar species

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).
915 open-data records from 1911 to 2017.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.