Erosaria helvola
| Erosaria helvola | |
|---|---|
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| Five views of a shell of Erosaria helvola | |
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| A view of a shell of Erosaria helvola, anterior end towards the right | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Cypraeoidea |
| Family: | Cypraeidae |
| Genus: | Erosaria |
| Species: | E. helvola |
| Binomial name | |
| Erosaria helvola (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Cypraea helvola Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym) | |
Erosaria helvola, common name : the honey cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]
A subspecies, Erosaria helvola argella (Melvill, 1888), has been described.
Description
These very common small shells reach on average 15–23 millimetres (0.59–0.91 in) of length, with a maximum size of 36 millimetres (1.4 in) and a minimum size of 8 millimetres (0.31 in). The basic color of the shell is orange-brown or beige, with many white dots on the top of the dorsum. The underside is orange-brown. In the living cowries the mantle is transparent, with short white papillae.
Distribution
This species is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, along the Red Sea, Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Polynesia and Hawaii.
Habitat
Erosaria helvola lives in intertidal and shallow subtidal waters or in lagoons, usually hiding during the day under the rocks of the reef.
References
- Notes
- 1 2 Erosaria helvola (Linnaeus). WoRMS (2009). Erosaria helvola (Linnaeus). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216853 on 16 October 2010.
- Bibliography
- Verdcourt, B. (1954). The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129-144, 17 pls.
- Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey
- Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erosaria helvola. |