Description
This attractive egg cowrie was originally described in the
genus Pseudosimnia and later assigned to the genus
Diminovula. Diminovula aurantiomaculata grows up to 3/8 inch
( 11 mm) long and has the spindle-shaped shell typical
for egg cowries. Their base color is white, on which there
are brown-gold spots (hence the specific epithet
aurantiomaculata, gold-spotted.
This is one of numerous egg cowrie species that look very
similar to one another and can be determined at species level
only on the basis of their shell coloration. In this case, this is
achieved via the spots as well as a narrow golden yellow band
close to the edge of the shell, which is very species-typical.
The shell is, however, completely covered by a mantle
whose coloration matches the cowrie to its surround-
ings, and this mantle permits identification only at
genus level, as it is similar in numerous species. It has
spine-like appendages that imitate the protruding spic-
ules of a Dendronephthya soft coral.
habitat
Low-light areas of the coral reef at a depth of around
50–82 feet ( 15–25 m), where azooxanthellate soft corals
predominate.
aquarium maintenance
In general, this species finds its way into reef tanks accidentally with Dendronephthya soft corals, and as a rule
is an unwanted inhabitant. In addition, its maintenance
is made more difficult by the fact that to date, there has
been only limited success with the maintenance of
Dendronephthya, such that they soon degenerate and begin
to shrink, because they are deriving nourishment from
their own body mass. This, in turn, reduces the food sup-
