Cyphoma signatum
Small orange-spotted snail found grazing sea fans off Grenada Island and Carriacou in warm 25-31C water, year-round.
A small, oval-shelled snail around 3 cm long, usually spotted on a sea fan or soft coral rather than in open water. The mantle (soft tissue covering the shell) is tan to orange with a dense scatter of fine dark speckles, giving it a mottled, fingerprint-like pattern rather than the bold black rings of its more famous cousin. Look closely at gorgonian branches and octocorals, the snail moves slowly and holds its retracted shell tight against the coral surface.
Divers usually find it parked on a single gorgonian or soft coral colony, grazing slowly across the branches rather than moving across open reef. It shows no real reaction to divers and will sit still long enough for a close look or photo if you approach gently. Most logs describe it as an uncommon find worth a slow scan of sea fans rather than something you'll see on every dive.
Like other flamingo tongues, it feeds directly on the living tissue of gorgonians and soft corals, and its diet is thought to be what produces the bright mantle pattern, since the shell underneath is plain white or cream.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, so treat it as a year-round find. Water in its recorded range stays a steady 25 to 31C, comfortable for reef life on Caribbean reefs through every month.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Grenada is by far the strongest bet, with dependable sightings around Grenada Island and Carriacou. Beyond Grenada, it turns up at sites in Guadeloupe's Grande-Terre, off Sosúa in the Dominican Republic, around Grand Cayman, and occasionally at Tent Reef in Saba.
Mapping where Fingerprint Flamingo Tongue is logged…
Grenada is the top spot, especially around Grenada Island and Carriacou, with further sightings in Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic near Sosúa, Grand Cayman, and Saba.
There's no strong season in the sighting data, so it's a year-round find on Caribbean reefs where water stays between roughly 25 and 31C.
Look for a small, oval snail on a sea fan or soft coral with a tan to orange mantle covered in fine dark speckles, more of a mottled fingerprint look than bold spots or rings.
They're small, reaching around 3 cm in length, about the size of a fingertip, which is part of why they're easy to miss on a busy sea fan.
They graze on the living tissue of gorgonians and soft corals, and their colourful mantle pattern is linked to compounds picked up from this diet.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Warty Egg Cowrie
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