Turbo fluctuosus

Identification: thick top- or turban-shaped shell, 2.5 to 8.6 cm in the wild, olive green, brown or greyish, streaked or tessellated with white; the whorls are often angular and nodose at the shoulder. The large aperture is iridescent inside, the columella white. The operculum is round and convex, white and granulate in the centre, edged with fine beaded green ribs. LiveAquaria spells it "Turbo fluctuosa"; Quality Marine also lists the names "Turbo grazer", "Cateye" and "Chevron".

In the wild it lives in crevices and holes of reefs (LiveAquaria), in the eastern Pacific, from the Baja California peninsula to Peru and the Galápagos; trade animals come from the Gulf of California.

Trade: specimens sold measure about 2 to 5 cm. They are normally not collected from July to September because of the extreme heat in Mexico; LiveAquaria then offers the Margarita as a substitute. No data was found on breeding in aquariums.