Described by Franz Schilder who dedicated the specific epiphet to his wife, the “Maria’s Cowrie” is one of the most lovely cowries of all with its unique eye-catching brown fringed yellow spots. An omnivore, it has a very wide range throughout the Indo-Pacific ranging from east Africa to northern Australia to Philippines to Hawaii to French Polynesia. The depth range of this nocturnal cowry is approximately -5~45m. The spotted pattern vary greatly between individuals, usually at least some parts are blurry; it is difficult to find a specimen with all spots having sharp and well-contrasted edges. The average shell length is around 15mm for this rather uncommon species, although very large specimens may reach 20mm. – adapted from Chong Chen’s post