Also called: Conch print · Plain loop

Where on the hand: On the pad of any fingertip or the thumb. The loop is the most common fingerprint pattern of all.

What it looks like: Ridges enter from one side, curve round a core, and exit the same side, with a single off-centre triradius. It looks like a wave curling back on itself, or the spiral opening of a conch.

Flexible, adaptable, friendly, easy-going, team-oriented, socially fluent — someone who goes with the flow. Its limitation is a possible lack of individuality and difficulty finishing things. In Indian terms it is the *shankh*, Vishnu's conch, and it is auspicious.

Read with care: Indian sources contradict each other on the shankh: one gives wholly positive readings for index, ring and little (guru, fame, melodious voice), another gives financial-loss readings for the same placements. Report both.