Previously know as Burnupena delalandii.
Shell elongated (length twice width), smooth by crossed by numerous fine spiral ridges. Juveniles often patterned with alternating dark and light streaks or ‘flames’, later obscured by erosion and algal overgrowth.
Inside of aperture dark purple-brown. Outer lip pale, thin and only moderately kinked inwards at its posterior end.About 30 mm.
A common scavenger that rapidly congregates around dead or injured animals in rock pools and crevices from mid-tide down.
Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa (1994, 2016); A guide to marine life on South African rocky shores (Day, 1969)
Can be easily confused with the rotund burnupena (Burnupena rotunda), which has a smooth shell with fine spiral ridges like B. catarrhacta, but much more robust and squat. Its outer lip is thick and scarcely kinked inwards posteriorly. The shell is dull brown, lacking the characteristic flame pattern, and the inside of the aperture is pale.
F*CK FISH 