"Lister’s Conch" is one of the most iconic shells in malacology. Mirabilistrombus Listeri - Height: 108 mm - Width: 48 mm- 25 g

Mirabilistrombus Listeri

The so-called 'Lister’s Conch', one of the most famous shells in malacology, with a history spanning centuries of collecting. The first known specimen appeared in London in the early 17th century in the collection of John Tradescant, and it was from an engraving by Martin Lister that it took its name. On that same illustration, Thomas Gray based the description that designated the specimen as the holotype, now housed at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. For a long time, it remained a unique and almost legendary piece, until Mrs. de Burgh, unaware of the previous description, had another specimen cataloged as Strombus mirabilis by Sowerby II in 1870. This helped fuel the fascination and rarity of the species, so much so that S. Peter Dance included it in the famous volume 'Rare Shells' in 1969. Its taxonomic placement was long controversial: only in 1998 did Gijs Kronenberg establish a monotypic genus for it, Mirabilistrombus, recognizing its uniqueness within the family Strombidae. Today, thanks to dredging and deep-sea fishing, the species can be found, although complete specimens with operculum remain difficult to obtain. It is an herbivorous gastropod living on sandy bottoms at depths between 40 and 150 meters, with a distribution ranging from the northwestern Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Bengal, recently extending to the Arafura Sea. The main specimens come from Myanmar and Thailand. The shell, robust and distinctive, exhibits an unmistakable morphology compared to other strombid shells. Once considered a mirage for every collector, the Mirabilistrombus listeri remains a symbol of rarity and prestige today, a testament to a history intertwined with science, curiosity, and collecting passion.