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Phos senticosus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Description: Shell solid, with shouldered whorls. Strong axial ribs on all whorls, crossed by weaker, erect spiral ribs with two or three finer threads in the interspaces, sometimes forming short, sharp spines on the shoulder. Outer lip sharp, crenulate, with about 14 strong lirae descending deep into the aperture. Columella with 1-4 plaits at base; anterior fasciole strong, bordered by a broad, deep groove, sculptured as the rest of the shell surface. Colour uniformly white, fawn or brown, or banded with one or two darker brown bands; interior white or violet. Operculum corneous, leaf shaped.

Size: Up to 41 mm in length.

Distribution: Central Indo-West Pacific; in Australia, Warnbro Sound, WA, to Angourie, NSW. The Australian Museum also holds a single specimen, probably subfossil, dredged from Sydney Harbour. Macpherson and Gabriel (1962, p. 190) list this species from Victoria, giving localities of Gippsland coast and Port Phillip Heads, but given the rarity of the species in NSW, these must be regarded as anomalous records well outside the normal distribution.

Habitat: Lives intertidally on sand, and down to at least 50 m. Common in the tropics, rare in NSW.

Figs. 1,2: Lady Elliot Island, Queensland, in 9 m (C.069228)