Portal:Gastropods/Selected picture/21

The image shows five different views of one shell of the sea snail species Chicoreus ramosus. This snail is a tropical species that is quite large and predatory. The shell has a long siphonal canal and shows three varices per whorl. The varices are places where the shell temporarily stopped growing in overall length, and grew in thickness instead, creating in this case elaborate outgrowths as well as a red area on the outer surface of the columella. The shell of this species is in demand as a decorative object, and thus is part of the international shell trade.