Pachymelania aurita is an attractively sculptured thairid native to coastal west Africa, ranging from Senegal to Angola. An abundant species, it inhabits sandy to muddy flats of mangrove swamps and brackish lagoons and prefers localities with relatively high salinity and sand contents; although it is an euryhaline species and the salinity where it is found may vary from about 0.01 to 20mg/l. It is an omnivorous deposit feeder feeding on blue-green algae, diatoms, and organic debris by ingesting sediments in its surroundings. Very variable in strength of shoulder nodules, the depicted specimen is an example with elaborate nodules. It is covered in a layer of semi-transparent greenish brown periostracum when alive which obscures the banded pattern of the ostracum. Typical shell length around 35mm, very large specimens may exceed 55mm. Its range overlaps with a brackish potamidid Tympanotonos fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) which is remarkably similar but has more radial ribs and a very different aperture shape. The two species are often confused, and are both important food species for local people. – from Chong Chen’s post

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