Family Ovulidae

Shell size to 21 mm; shell narrow, elongate, aperture comprising most of shell length. Surface smooth, except for incised lines at shell ends. Aperture broad, flaring anteriorly. Color yellow, white, red or rosy-brown with areas of lighter color. Living on sea-whips; the photos of the live simnia on 'branches' of the sea whip Leptogorgia virgulata were taken by Amy Tripp on Marco Island on March 27, 2014.

Shell to 40 The shell has blunt ends, there is a weak crenulation of the outer lip and callus, as in Cyphoma mcgintyi. Color buff with faint pinkish-orange tinges above and below the whitish dorsal ridge (the transversal structure on the "back" of the shell). The mantle has elongated black markings set on a yellowish background, the resulting general pattern resembling fingerprints. The shell differs from C. intermedium by the more elongated shape, heavier, well-defined dorsal ridge and resulting calluses, and blunter ends. The aperture is slightly wider anteriorly (bottom of the images) than in C. mcgintyi. The shell illustrated was collected by brothers Holt and Cabe Rieck at Turner Beach, Captiva, after a storm, in a shell pile.

Shell to 40 Elongate shell with dorsal ridge weaker than in C. signatum but stronger than in C. intermedium. Lateral callus on right side narrow but high. Shell with tints of pink or lilac on its dorsal surface. The mantle of the living animal has numerous solid, tightly packed, round or elongate spots. Cyphomas live associated with and feed on sea whips and sea fans. The glossy nature of their shells results from the animal being able to completely envelop the shell with the mantle when active. The shell in the photos was collected by Mary Burton in December 2010, on Sanibel.

Shell size to 35 mm; shell elongate-ovate, variable in shape, usually white when found dead, fresh specimens with orangish tinge. Unlike other species in the genus, dorsal ridge weak or absent. Columellar fold pronounced. Illustrated shell was found on Sanibel by Carol Stafne in early 2009.