Southern Cat's Eye

Modelia granosa

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–20 m
Water temperature11–18 °C
Best monthsFebruary, October, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Genevieve Early, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Modelia granosa, common name the southern cat's eye, is a medium to large species of sea snail which has a shell with a pearly interior and a calcareous operculum. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 17 records
February: 18 records
March: 12 records
April: 11 records
May: 10 records
June: 3 records
July: 8 records
August: 4 records
September: 8 records
October: 20 records
November: 27 records
December: 15 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–20 m · Deepest record: 267.5 m

0–10 m: 20 records
10–20 m: 25 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–18 °C

10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 22 records
14–16 °C: 2 records
16–18 °C: 38 records

Photos

(c) M Rutherford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) wild_wind, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) wild_wind, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Genevieve Early, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Southern Cat's Eye

Other scientific names: Liotia (Arene) shandi, Trochus granosus, Turbo (Modelia) granosus, Turbo granosus, Turbo rubicundus, Turbo shandi

Similar species

Lunella undulata
Astralium rhodostomum
Common Tent Shell
Astralium tentoriiforme
Golden small star
Bellastraea aurea
scaly small star
Bellastraea squamifera
Cookia sulcata

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).
362 open-data records from 1933 to 2013.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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