common butterfly shell
Electroma papilionacea
- Usual depth0–12 m
- Water temperature14–29 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, April, and October
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Terra Occ, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Terra Occ · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 72 records
- February: 109 records
- March: 78 records
- April: 95 records
- May: 41 records
- June: 84 records
- July: 79 records
- August: 52 records
- September: 79 records
- October: 92 records
- November: 76 records
- December: 45 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–12 m · Deepest record: 60 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 14–29 °C
Photos
no rights reserved, uploaded by corunastylis · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Terra Occ, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- common butterfly shell
Other scientific names: Avicula georgiana, Avicula hyalina, Avicula papilionacea, Avicula punctulata, Avicula scalpta, Avicula virens, Electroma virens
Similar species
- Raven's wing
Electroma alacorvi
- Painted tree-oyster
Crenatula picta
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 863 open-data records from 1878 to 2025.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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