Pictured above is a live Egg Cowrie, Ovula ovum. Its mantle black and velvety covered with small white or yellow spots. Egg cowries, feed on soft corals and sponges. There are separate males and females, which are often found together. Pictured below are the egg cases of an egg cowrie, each of which contains many eggs. Those at the top of the picture have been partly eaten, probably by a nudibranch. Female egg cowries are sometimes seen guarding their brood.
The eggs pictured below are located on a Scarphyton sp. soft coral. This coral is toxic to fish but the egg cowrie is able to neutralise toxin and feed on the coral.

The shell, pictured below, is porcelain white on the upper surface. The undersurface white, the interior is orange brown, teeth are only present on outer lip.

Naming notes: Latin for egg formed egg.