Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Ovulidae

Cyphoma signatum

(Pilsbry and McGinty, 1939)

Fingerprint Cyphoma

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.