Two-banded Moon, Polinices bifasciatus

Two-banded Moon, Polinices bifasciatus. Size: 5.1 cm (2.0 inches). Collection, photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis.

The Two-banded Moon, Polinices bifasciatus (Gray in Griffith and Pidgeon, 1833), is a member of the Naticiae Family of Moon Shells. They are shells of about four whorls with a low spire and a fairly pointed apex. They have a large semi-circular aperture. The exterior of the shell is smooth and light-brown in color, with two, narrow, but widely separated, white bands. The area adjacent to the inner edge of the aperture is dark brown. The interior is white. The Two-banded Moon Shells reach a maximum height of 5.6 cm (2.2 inches).

Two-banded Moons are found on and within mud and sand substrate in the intertidal zone to depths up to 10 feet. They range from the northern Sea of Cortez to Panama; they have not been not documented as residents of the West Coast of Baja.

A synonym is Natica bifasciatusis.