Staphylaea limacina
| Staphylaea limacina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shell of Staphylaea limacina from Philippines at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Cypraeoidea |
| Family: | Cypraeidae |
| Genus: | Staphylaea |
| Species: | S. limacina |
| Binomial name | |
| Staphylaea limacina (Lamarck, 1810) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Cypraea limacina Lamarck, 1810 (basionym) | |
Staphylaea limacina, common name Slug-like Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]
Description
The shell size varies between 8 mm and 39 mm. This shell is oval, the dorsum surface is usually pale brown or pinkish with whitish spots or small round whitish protuberances and two orange-brown areas at the extremities, while the base is white. In the living cowries the mantle may have a brown, orange or reddish coloration, with paler finger-like projections.
Distribution
This species is distributed in the Southeast Asia, in Australia and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles and Tanzania.
Subspecies
- Staphylaea limacina clarissa Lorenz, 1989
- Staphylaea limacina interstincta (Wood, 1828)
References
- 1 2 Staphylaea limacina (Lamarck). WoRMS (2009). Staphylaea limacina (Lamarck). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216892 on 17 October 2010.
- 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.