Phenacovolva rosea

About this species

Phenacovolva rosea, also known as the rosy spindle cowry, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries. It lives and feeds on fan, whip and bush-type gorgonians.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Phenacovolva rosea”, 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: 36 records
February: 40 records
March: 80 records
April: 75 records
May: 72 records
June: 48 records
July: 49 records
August: 45 records
September: 60 records
October: 53 records
November: 74 records
December: 41 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–416 m · Deepest record: 416 m

10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 1 records
120+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 22 records
24–26 °C: 16 records
26–28 °C: 8 records
28–30 °C: 17 records

Photos

(c) Luke Lythgoe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alicia Christman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ig: underwater.logs, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: ベニキヌヅツミ

Other scientific names: Birostra rosea, Neosimnia lanceolata, Ovula adamsii, Ovula philippinarum, Ovulum roseum, Phenacovolva (Phenacovolva) rosea, Phenacovolva birostris, Volva adamsii, Volva carpenteri, Volva rosea, Volva sowerbyana

Similar species

Phenacovolva brevirostris
Nectar Spindle Cowrie
Phenacovolva nectarea
Phenacovolva subreflexa
Common egg cowrie
Ovula ovum
Calcarovula longirostrata
Common calpurnus
Calpurnus verrucosus

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).
146 open-data records from 1881 to 2010.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.