Toenail Cowry

Calpurnus verrucosus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Ovulidae
Genus: Calpurnus
Species: Calpurnus verrucosus

The toenail cowry (Calpurnus verrucosus) is a white ovulid with a pink-tipped knob at each end of its shell, living on leather corals. Its mantle is mottled white with dark spots and often covers the shell.

Its shell grows to about 2-3 cm. It feeds on the soft corals it lives on, especially Sarcophyton and Lobophytum.

In the Philippines it is found on leather corals on reefs, sometimes in pairs.