Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a superfamily 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 ...

s, 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 ...

s included in the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Littorinimorpha Littorinimorpha is a large order of snails, gastropods, consisting primarily of sea snails ( marine species), but also including some freshwater snails ( limnic species) and land snails ( terrestrial species).Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Fr� ...

. This superfamily had been called Cypraeacea and was named by Rafinesque in 1815.MolluscaBase (2018). Cypraeoidea Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=14774 on 2018-07-18

Shell description

This superfamily of sea snails have adult shells which do not look like typical

gastropod shell The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium ...

s because the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

of the shell is not visible in adults, instead the shells are: often quite rounded in shape, varying from globular to elongate, and with a long, very narrow,

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

which is sometimes toothed. The snails in these families have no operculum. Cypraea_onyx_S2-21_37mm

The shells of almost every species in this superfamily are very smooth and shiny, and this is because in the living animal, the shell is nearly always fully covered with the mantle. The largest known fossil cowry was ''Gisortia gigantiea'' Munster, 1828 which reached a length of 350mm. The largest modern cowry is the Atlantic Deer Cowry (''

Macrocypraea cervus ''Macrocypraea cervus'', common name the Atlantic deer cowry, is a species of large sea snail, a very large cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Cypraeidae, the cowries. Distribution This species is mainly distribute ...

'') at up to 190mm. The largest known cowry from any extant subfamily or genus was the Australian cowry ''Zoila (Gigantocypraea) gigas'' (McCoy, 1867) at about 247mm. Cypraea_Tigris

Nomenclature

This superfamily used to be known as Cypraeacea. Prior to the recent ruling by the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...

, many invertebrate superfamily names ended in the suffix -acea, or -aceae, not -oidea as now required according to ICZN article 29.2. The suffix -oidea used to be used for some subclasses and superorders, where it is still found. In much of the older literature including Keen 1958, gastropod superfamilies are written with the suffix -acea.

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology,'' published from 1953–2007 by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas, then 2009–present by the University of Kansas Paleontological Institute, is a definitive multi-authore ...

; part K (Nautiloidea) 1964 and part L (Ammonoidea) 1962; Geological Society of America and Univ. of Kansas Press.

Taxonomy

2005 taxonomy

The following two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zool ...

were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): *

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, ...

Ovulidae Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family (biology), family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the co ...

2007 taxonomy

Fehse (2007)Fehse D. (2007). "Contributions to the knowledge of the Ovulidae. XVI. The higher systematics". '' Spixiana'' 30(1): 121-125
PDF
. elevated the subfamily Pediculariinae to the family Pediculariidae, and the tribe Eocypraeini to the family Eocypraeidae. Both of these groups were removed from the Ovulidae and raised to family level, based on research on their morphological and molecular phylogenic qualities. Families within Cypraeoidea are as follows: *

Eratoidae Eratoidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Cypraeoidea .MolluscaBase (2018). Eratoidae Gill, 1871. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=t ...

Gill, 1871 *

Triviidae Triviidae is a taxonomic family of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea of the order Littorinimorpha. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Triviidae Troschel, 1863. Accessed through: World Register of Ma ...

Troschel, 1863 * Velutinidae Gray, 1840 ;Synonyms: * Amphiperatidae Gray, 1853: synonym of

J. Fleming, 1822 *

Eocypraeidae Eocypraeidae is a small family (biology), family of large sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Eocypraeidae F. A. Schilder, 1924 ...

: synonym of Eocypraeinae Schilder, 1924 * Lamellariidae d'Orbigny, 1841: synonym of

Lamellariinae Lamellariinae is a subfamily of small slug-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs belonging to the family Velutinidae, in the order Littorinimorpha.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Lamellariinae d'Orbigny, 1841. Accessed through: Wo ...

d'Orbigny, 1841 * Pediculariidae Gray, 1853: synonym of

Pediculariinae Pediculariinae is a subfamily of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae and the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. As of 2009, it comprises 48 described species ...

Gray, 1853 Erronea_sp

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1148193 Littorinimorpha Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque