Common Purple Sea Snail
Janthina janthina
Markings and exact colorations may vary.
A fragile violet shell that floats upside down on a raft of bubbles far out at sea and strands in mass drift events.
- Typical size
- 0.5–1.5 in
- How often it turns up
- Rare, then suddenly abundant
- Collecting
- Usually legal to collect
- Handling
- May irritate skin
The shells are safe. The man o' war they arrive with are not — do not touch blue floats or tentacles, even dried ones.
How to tell it apart
- Thin, brittle, bright violet
- Two-tone: paler above, deep purple below
- Often arrives with by-the-wind sailors and sargassum
Where to find these in Florida
Beaches rated very good or excellent for shells. Each page shows today’s score, the best window and access details.
- Anclote Key Preserve State Park · Tarpon Springs
- Bean Point · Anna Maria
- Beer Can Island (Greer Island) · Longboat Key
- Boca Grande Public Beach · Boca Grande
- Bowman's Beach · Sanibel
- Captiva Beach · Captiva
- Cayo Costa State Park · Cayo Costa
- Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park · Naples
- Don Pedro Island State Park · Cape Haze
- Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park · St. George Island
- Gasparilla Island State Park · Boca Grande
- Gulfside City Park (Algiers Beach) · Sanibel
Found one?
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