The “Bengal Fig” is a large and intricately sculptured ficid found exclusively in the Indian Ocean, ranging from Bay of Bengal to Mozambique; the type locality being “Off Ganjam coast, eastern India”.

For many years it was considered a rare shell as the main supply was by-catch from trawlers working off Somalia, but very recently fresh supplies have emerged from India and it has become much easier to obtain. In its natural habitat it is a locally common gastropod mostly seen on sandy to muddy bottoms of rather deep water around -100~400m, although occasionally it is found as shallow as -30m.

Ficidae is considered to feed by swallowing small organisms with detritus and organic particles, though some claim they feed on echinoderms and polychaete remains have been detected in the digestive tracts of Ficus. The surface sculpture is characteristic and little-varied among individuals, although the shell width to height ratio varies considerably. Typical shell length around 100mm, very large specimens (as shown) are known to exceed 130mm.

In “A Conchological Iconography: The family Ficidae” (2000), Varhaeghe & Poppe cited the authority of this species as “Smith, 1906”, but this was due to a confusion between two references by the same author and it was actually described in 1894. The specific epithet refers to the H.M. Indian Marine Survey Steamer “Investigator” which collected the first specimens that became the basis of the original description.

-Chong Chen-