tiger cowry

A shell of the tiger cowry Cypraea tigris, a popular ornament in Europe and elsewhere, was also sometimes used as a ready-made darning egg.

The tiger cowry was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, and the species still bears its original name of Cypraea tigris.

During the Reef Safari, the guide leads you on a show-and-tell walk through one of the resort's shallow lagoons, letting you touch the "resident" sea cucumbers, sea stars, tiger cowry shells, strawberry crabs, sea hares and maybe even an octopus.