With an unmistakable gigantic protoconch the « False Baler » is a large and iconic volutid endemic to Australia, ranging from Queensland to Southern Australia, including Tasmania. The specific epithet unsurprisingly refers to the exceptionally mamillate protoconch, which is not deciduous and remain attached to the teleoconch throughout the entire life. The holotype specimenis actually a juvenile and the protoconch therefore appeared even more dramatic than in an adult shell. The common name, on the other hand, is a reference to its superficial similarity with species of the genus Melo, the true baler shells. The shell is thin and lightweight, usually adorned with two wide bands of 'zigzag' patterns and has an orange aperture. It is however a rather variable species, especially with regards to the pattern, and completely unpatterned individuals are not uncommon. Specimens from Sandy Cape, Queensland, its northern limit, often show finer 'zigzac' patterns and have a much shorter spire resulting in a stouter overall form. Specimens with a white aperture and interior has been given the name leucostoma Mayblom, 1951, but the name carries no taxonomic validity as such specimens occur side-by-side with orange-mouthed ones and is merely a colour variation. A carnivorous and predatory gastropod, it inhabits sandy bottoms of moderately deep subtidal waters around -80~400m in depth. Although locally a moderately common species the shell is quite prone to encrusting damage and inclusions, making it very difficult to find a high quality specimen with a clean pattern. Typical shell length around 240mm., extremely large specimens are known to exceed even 310mm. Surprisingly perhaps, hybrids appear to exist between it and the much smaller sized congener Livonia roadnightae (McCoy, 1881). Such supposedly hybrid specimens carry characteristics of both species and was originally described as a new species Livonia quisqualis Iredale, 1957. These are extremely rare and only a few have been discovered so far.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Australia." Restricted by Gray (1855a) to Tasmania, Australia. RANGE: From South Australia and Victoria southward to North Tasmania, then north to New South Wales and Queens- land, Australia. HABITAT: Dredged in 50 to 100 fathoms. DIMENSIONS: Adult specimens are 200 to 295 mm in length. SHELL DESCRIPTION: Shell is large, ovate, and light in weight, with a very low, blunt spire. Protoconch is extremely large and mammillary, with one and three-tenths smooth whorls; the nucleus and part of the first whorl are situated laterally. Teleoconch has three convex whorls. The adult body whorl is greatly inflated and about four-fifths the total length of the shell. Minute spiral striae and axial growth lines appear on the surface of the shell. Outer lip is thin and simple; it curves sharply in a posterior direction toward the suture. Aperture is wide and semiovate; interior color is pale orange. Siphonal notch is wide and shallow; fasciole absent. Columella is recurved, with three sharply angled anterior plaits of about equal strength. Parietal area is thinly glazed. Typically, the base color is pale brownish-yellow marked with two transverse zones of zigzag chestnut lines at the periphery and the anterior end of the adult body whorl. Two intermediate, light, base-colored, revolving zones may or may not show some irregular, revolving chestnut lines. ANIMAL AND RADULA: The radula is uniserial with 95 small tricuspid teeth. The teeth average 23 mm in length. REMARKS: A color form with a white aperture and base color, living side by side with typical specimens, was given the name leucostoma by Mayblom in 1951. We have placed it in the synonymy of mammilla. The uncommon Livonia mammilla differs from Livonia roadnightae (McCoy, 1881) principally in its larger and mammilate protoconch, as well as in the absence of strong axial ribs. The spiral lirae on the teleoconch whorls are much stronger in roadnightae.

Found at: Banks Strait, Tasmania, Australia.