Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Muricidae

Favartia cellulosa

(Conrad, 1846)

Pitted Murex

Shell size to 25 mm; shell delicate, solid. Surface finely pitted. Sculpture of 5-7 major varices per whorl. Anterior canal turned up. Outer lip internally with 5-7 denticles. Color white to grayish-white. The additional photo shows Favartia cellulosa feeding on a Variable Coquina (Donax variabilis), probably drilling at the more vulnerable area where the coquina's shell margins meet, also known as a bivalve shell's *commissure*. Latter photo by Amy Tripp at Kice Island, Collier County, Florida.