SOLITARY ISLANDS
UNDERWATER
RESEARCH GROUP, INC.

Bedeva paivae
(Crosse, 1864)

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Endemic to Australia, recorded from Cairns, Qld, to Shark Bay, WA, including Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Intertidal, found under rocks, especially in seagrass, mussel or oyster beds, particularly in estuaries.

Additional Notes: Shell with sharply angled body whorl, with about 15 spiral ribs below shoulder, 3 to 5 above. Spaces between the ribs, and sometimes the ribs themselves, scaly. Colour brown, often with a white line at the shoulder. Aperture white to purple, operculum corneous. A common species that bores holes in oysters and mussels. Grows to 32 mm, commonly 20 mm in length.

References: The Seashells of New South Wales, Des Beechey, Senior Fellow, Australian Museum, Release 25. Website at http://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Ergalataxinae/Pages/bedeva_paivae.htm. Accessed 23/11/2020