Robust Auger Shell, Terebra robusta

Robust Auger Shell, Terebra robusta. Shell collected from the beaches of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, March 2008. Size: 5.7 cm (2.2 inches) x 1.3 cm (0.5 inches). Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Robust Auger, Terebra robusta (Hinds, 1844),  is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Terebridae Family of Augers. They are known in Mexico as taladro robusto. The shells are solid that can vary between slender and rounded with fifteen to eighteen fairly flat-sided whorls with a small aperture. Each whorl has a groove above its center line and the higher whorls are well sculpted with lengthwise ridges that become less pronounced with maturity and in later whorls. The exterior of the shell is white to yellowish in color, with chestnut spots that often join to form oblique or wavy, lengthwise lines; the interior is white. Robust Auger Shells reach a maximum of 15.5 cm (6.1 inches) in length and 3.5 cm (1.4 inches) in height.

Robust Augers are found over and within mud, rubble and sand substrate in the intertidal zone to depths up to 110 m (360 feet). They range from Bahia Santa Maria, Baja California Sur, to Peru, including the Cocos, Galapagos and Tres Marias Islands. They are found throughout the Sea of Cortez.

Synonyms include  Terebra dumbauldi, Terebra insignis, Terebra lingualis, and Terebra loroisii.