About Cinctura lilium (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807)
The shell of Cinctura lilium, commonly known as the banded tulip shell, does not grow as large as the shell of the true tulip, Fasciolaria tulipa. Its color pattern also differs from that of the true tulip: C. lilium has redder colored splotches, which appear blue in rare locations, and the characteristic stripes that give the banded tulip its name are positioned much further apart. This shell reaches a length of 2 ¼ to 4 1/8 inches, which is 5.7 to 10.5 cm. This species is distributed off the coast of North and South Carolina, in the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida coast to the Gulf coast of Texas extending south into Mexico, and in the Caribbean Sea. C. lilium lives on sand or muddy sand, at depths ranging from 2 to 150 feet.
