Ovatipsa chinensis

Ovatipsa chinensis
A live Ovatipsa chinensis with its mantle fully extended
Five views of a shell of Ovatipsa chinensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Superfamily: Cypraeoidea
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha

Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Ovatipsa
Species: O. chinensis
Binomial name
Ovatipsa chinensis
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cribraria chinensis (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Cribraria cruenta
  • Cypraea chinensis Gmelin, 1791 (basionym)
  • Cypraea cruenta
  • Erronea chinensis (Gmelin, 1791)

Ovatipsa chinensis common name the Chinese cowrie, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [1]

Description

The mantle of the animal is bright red, and it is completely covered by protruding short filaments. The shells of this species reach 25–50 millimetres (0.98–1.97 in) of length. The shells are smooth and elongate, light brown or yellowish in color with clear dots on the dorsum and a flat white base. With the subspecies variolaria (Lamarck, 1810), the basic color of the shell is light brown, with slight purple spots on the edges.

Ovatipsa chinensis variolaria, Philippines - dorsal view
Ovatipsa chinensis variolaria, Philippines - lateral view

Distribution and Habitat

This species is found throughout the Indian Ocean and in the Central Pacific Ocean, in seas along Red Sea, East Africa, Australia, Indonesia and Philippines, in intertidal waters at 35–45 metres (115–148 ft) of depth . The Chinese cowry is active at night and hides under rocks in cracks and crevices during the day.

Subspecies

The following subspecies have been recognized : [1]

References

External links

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