The “Kiener’s Delphinula” is one of the fifty “Rare Shells” chosen by S. Peter Dance (1969) and was for a long time considered very rare. Today it is known to be rather common in deep water of tropical west Indo-Pacific region. Perhaps the most beautiful species of the family, it is also one of the most variable.

The most desirable form has webbed spines like large petals of a flower, this form is still rare if the frills are intact and of a large size for the form (~50mm). A very large specimen is shown here, although not the webbed form. – Adapted from Chong Chen