spindle-shaped volute

Ericusa sowerbyi

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0 m
Water temperature14–24 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and December
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Ericusa sowerbyi, common name the spindle-shaped volute, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ericusa sowerbyi”, 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: 22 records
February: 14 records
March: 11 records
April: 14 records
May: 12 records
June: 15 records
July: 23 records
August: 30 records
September: 25 records
October: 18 records
November: 12 records
December: 28 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0 m · Deepest record: 397.5 m

0–10 m: 42 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–24 °C

12–14 °C: 26 records
14–16 °C: 73 records
16–18 °C: 21 records
18–20 °C: 37 records
20–22 °C: 55 records
22–24 °C: 9 records

Photos

(c) Gary Williams, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: spindle-shaped volute

Other scientific names: Mesericusa sowerbyi, Mesericusa stokesi, Voluta fusiformis, Voluta sowerbyi

Similar species

Lightning Volute
Ericusa fulgetrum
Ericusa papillosa
silk-like volute
Ericusa sericata
Alcithoe arabica
Waved volute
Amoria undulata
Zebra volute
Amoria zebra

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).
274 open-data records from 1842 to 2017.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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