''Cypraeovula fuscorubra'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
sea snail
Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...
, a
cowry
Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae.
Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used wo ...
, a marine
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Cypraeidae
Cypraeidae, common name, commonly named the cowries ( cowry or cowrie), is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small to large sea snails. These are marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, ...
, the cowries.
Subspecies
*''Cypraeovula fuscorubra fuscorubra''
(Shaw, 1909)
*''Cypraeovula fuscorubra gondwanalandensis''
(Burgess, 1970)
Description
The mantle is variable in colour from white to black and orange to pink and red, with a finely granular surface. There are small papillae along the mantle edges and there may be black and white markings. The siphon is short and recurved and is usually transparent white with an opaque white rim. Cephalic tentacles are tapered and fairly thick and yellow to orange in colour. The foot is short and fleshy and is usually less strongly pigmented than the mantle and is often marked with small black and white dots or flecks.
The shell is generally pear-shaped, and the colour ranges from beige and mauve to grey with an overlay of densely spaced reddish brown spots, which may be interrupted on the right side by a mantle line. Base and margins are thickened and usually beige or brown, but may be purple when fresh. Labrum is broad with a matte finish and 17 to 18 pigmented denticles. The aperture is fairly narrow but widens towards the front and curves to the rear.
Distribution
This marine species occurs off
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
from
Dassen Island
Dassen Island is an uninhabited South African island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated about west of Yzerfontein and north of Cape Town. The flat and low-lying island measures about long northwest–southeast and wide, with an area of . ...
to
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...
.
[Liltved, William Rune. ''Cowries and their relatives of southern Africa: A study of the southern African Cypraeacean and Velutinacean gastropod fauna'', Gordon Verhoef, Seacomber Publications, 2000. ]
Natural history
The cowrie is found on reefs from 15 to over 80 metres depth, often on the sides of large granite boulders and feeds primarily on
demosponge
Demosponges or common sponges are sponges of the class Demospongiae (from + ), the most diverse group in the phylum Porifera which include greater than 90% of all extant sponges with nearly 8,800 species
A species () is often de ...
s, but also algal and bryozoan material.
References
* Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) ''Sea Shells of Southern Africa''. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp.
* Lorenz & Hubert (2000). ''A guide to worldwide cowries''. ConchBooks 1-584page(s): 62
fuscorubra
Gastropods described in 1909
{{Cypraeidae-stub