Nature's Wild Kingdom - Mixed Terebra or Auger Seashells 3"-4"

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Terebras are Auger shells belonging to the family Terebridae; species Terebra Maculata. They are heavy, glossy with a broad body whorl(complete turn of the shells imaginary axis). Young shells have weak vertical ridges; while older species become smooth. There color is cream with interrupted spiral bands of brown. The shell has been used as a boring instrument by coastal tribes. They prefer shallow water, ranging across the Indo-Pacific tropics from the Indian Ocean east to just south of the Japanese Sea to the northern Australian/New Zealand shores.

Most of the Auger shells have long slender, glossy bodies. Some are thick and heavy; while others are light. their aperture (opening at the front end of the gastropod shell)and usually a rectangle, ending in a short, wide siphonal canal(the tube or gutter at the lower end of the aperture. The outer lip is thin and sharp edged and the columella (central pillar of the gastropod visible within the aperture).

All species are from warm or temperate seas living in intertidal zones. There they burrow and hide beneath rocks and coral. They feed on marine worms.