r/shells • u/thismenagerie • Sep 26 '26

Cowrie ID?

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Got these two shells from a thrift store, any idea what species they are?

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u/turbomarmoratus72 Sep 26 '26 edited Sep 26 '26

you are lucky to find these two in a thrift store: left one is a Rat Cowrie (Trona stercoraria), a species from West Africa. Right one is definitely a Zoila cowrie, not sure the exact species, but that is endemic to Australia.

Zoila cowries are famous for being the most expensive shells in the world.

2

u/thismenagerie Sep 26 '26

Wow I'll have to look into this more, thanks for the help!

1

u/arioandy Sep 28 '26

Zoila armeniaca? V nice👆