''Cypraea pantherina'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

the panther cowry, 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 large tropical

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, 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

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. The panther cowry is one of only two species currently included in the genus ''Cypraea'' (the second species is ''Cypraea tigris'', Linnaeus, 1758), as all other species previously belonging to the genus ''Cypraea'' have been reassigned to other genera within the family Cypraeidae. Shells of ''Cypraea pantherina'' have been found in

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

s in the Rhine valley dated to 6 BCE. Furthermore, shells of this species and the related ''Cypraea tigris'' have been unearthed at

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, the ancient Roman city near Naples, Italy, where these shells may have been used as an ornament.

Description

This quite common species looks very similar to '' Cypraea tigris'', but its shell is more slender and lighter. The shells of ''Cypraea pantherina'' reach on average of length, with a minimum size of and a maximum size of . The shape of these shells is roughly elongate-pyriform. They are quite heavy for their size. The dorsum surface is smooth and shiny, usually whitish or pale brown, densely covered with dark brown circular spots. A blurred longitudinal reddish line runs along the midline where the two halves of the mantle meet in life. However, the basic colors of the shell are very variable, as they range from melanic or chestnut red to albino. The lower margins are rounded and the ventral side is white or whitish, with several long and fine teeth along the aperture. In live animals the mantle is thin and quite transparent, with many longitudinal slight lines and numerous long and white sensorial papillae. The lateral extensions of the mantle may cover the shell completely, meeting at the midline of the dorsum. The mantle can also be withdrawn into the shell opening when the cowry is threatened.

Distribution

The panther cowry is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

(off

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

), Gulf of Aqaba, Dahlak Islands and

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

). Its range does not overlap with ''Cypraea tigris''. This species has also become established in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

( Lampedusa Island and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

), probably having entered through the Suez Canal.

Habitat

''Cypraea pantherina'' lives in clear water at of depth, mainly on coral colonies or sandy sea floor, feeding on coral polyps, various invertebrates and algae, but also on dead organic matter.

Subspecies and forms

* ''Cypraea pantherina pantherina'' Lightfoot, 1786 ** ''Cypraea pantherina pantherina'' form ''albonitens'' Melvill, J.C., 1888 ** ''Cypraea pantherina pantherina'' form ''catulus'' Schilder, F.A., 1924 ** ''Cypraea pantherina pantherina'' form ''funebralis'' Sulliotti, G.R., 1924 ** ''Cypraea pantherina pantherina'' form ''nigrovinosa'' Vayssière, A.J.B.M., 1923 * ''Cypraea pantherina rasnasraniensis'' Heiman & Mienis, 2001 Gastropods.com : ''Cypraea pantherina rasnasraniensis''
; accessed : 21 October 2010

References

* Lorenz F. & Hubert A. - A guide to worldwide cowries. Edition 2. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 584 pp

External links

Biolib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3008856 Cypraeidae Gastropods described in 1786 Taxa named by John Lightfoot (biologist)