As Betty Jean said, "beaked" or "having a part that looks like a beak" is a good literal translation for "rostrata" or rostrate. More specifically, as used in conchology, it refers to a specimen in which the anterior end of the shell is drawn out to an unusual degree, forming a forward-pointing extension. The term is most often used in reference to cowries, which have a tendency to become rostrate in certain localities. Some cowries, like Cypraea hesitata, are normally rather rostrate, but the term is most often used to describe individual unusual specimens of species which are not normally rostrate. Some rostrate cowrie specimens also have an extension of the posterior end of the shell, but strictly speaking, "rostrate" refers to hyperextension of the "rostrum" or anterior end. Paul M.