''Cypraeovula iutsui'' 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), ...

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 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.

Distribution

This species occurs from the mouth of the Olifants River in the Western Cape, to Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa.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.

Description

The length of an adult shell varies between 22 mm and 41 mm. Thin transparent beige mantle has beige or black conical

papillae Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * De ...

. The

siphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...

is the same colour as mantle. The cephalic tentacles are slender, elongate and off-white. The short translucent white

foot The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up o ...

is wide at the front and rounded at the rear. T The shell is globular, often nearly spherical, up to 41mm in length.

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

specimens vary in colour from pale plum to opaque white, with little dorsal marking.

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

specimens are more colourful, and may have red to rut- brown

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

markings. The labrum is broad with a dull surface, and has 17 to 25 fine denticles on the inner edge, which usually extend as fine ridges for a few millimetres. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is deeply convoluted and poorly developed. The shell

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 ...

is narrow and of even width along its length. The shell is globular, often nearly spherical, with the spire completely enveloped by the final adult

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

. The

is elongated, featuring a thickened, white, denticulate margin. The outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

(labrum) is equipped with 17–25 prominent teeth. Juvenile specimens, known as the 'bulla' stage, are common and retain vestiges of the spire as well as a narrowed siphonal region. Specimens from the west coast range in color from opaque white to pale plum, with few dorsal markings. In contrast, specimens from the

Agulhas Bank The Agulhas Bank (, from Portuguese for Cape Agulhas, ''Cabo das Agulhas'', "Cape of Needles") is a broad, shallow part of the southern African continental shelf which extends up to south of Cape Agulhas before falling steeply to the abyssal pla ...

are more densely patterned, featuring reddish-brown spots and blotches across the dorsum.

Habitat

This species 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 South Africa. Specimens have been collected from 150 to 250m depth on the

, and from below 50m on the Atlantic coast.

Conservation status

No data is available on the conservation status of this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13509081 iutsui Gastropods described in 1974 Gastropods of Africa