Waxy Latirus Shell, Leucozonia cerata

Waxy Latirus Shell, Leucozonia cerata. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Cabo San Lucas area, Baja California Sur, July 2009. Size: 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) x 1.9 cm (0.7 inches).

The Waxy Latirus, Leucozonia cerata (W. Wood, 1828), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Fasciolariidae Family of Spindle, Horse Conchs and Tulips. The shells consist of six to seven whorls, a high spire and broad rib sculpturing running length-wise, and fine spiral ribs, with an open canal of moderate length and an aperture that is wide at the top and tapers sharply toward the canal. The broad ribs become knobs where they cross the tops of the whorls. The exterior of the shell is yellowish-brown or brown with the knobs being whitish; the interior is bluish-white to white; the periostracum is dark brown. The Waxy Latirus Shells reach a maximum of 9.0 cm (3.5 inches) in length and 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) in height.

Waxy Latrius are found attached to rocks or on or within sand or mud substrate between rocks in the intertidal zone to depths up to 20 m (65 feet). They range from the southern end of the Sea of Cortez to Panama, including the Galapagos Islands. They have not been documented from the west coast Baja noting that the shell photographed above was collected in the extreme southwest corner of Baja.

A synonym is Murex cerata.