| Amonovula piriei | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Amonovula piriei may be difficult to spot. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Littorinimorpha |
| Family: | Ovulidae |
| Genus: | Amonovula |
| Species: | A. piriei |
| Binomial name | |
| Amonovula piriei (Petuch, 1973) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Amonovula piriei is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries. [1]
Amonovula piriei has an elongated, compact shell, cylindrical in shape and up to 22 mm (0.9 in) in length. It is plain and shiny, and has a long slit on the underside through which the mantle protrudes. When the snail is alive, the mantle almost completely covers the shell for most of the time. Two short tentacles and two tiny eyes are sometimes visible at the front when the animal is active and the only other part of the soft tissues which can be seen is the small part of the pale pink foot which trails behind when the animal moves. The mantle is white and translucent, with contrasting pustules, which mimic the polyps of the host gorgonian. The snail is a master of camouflage; it achieves this by feeding on the host's tissues and making use of the pigments so that it matches the colour of its host. [2]
Amonovula piriei is native to the western Pacific Ocean, being present in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. It exclusively lives on warm water gorgonians in the genera Euplexaura and Echinogorgia , at depths between about 5 and 50 m (16 and 164 ft). [2]
Amonovula piriei feeds on the tissues and polyps of the gorgonians on which it lives, and can be considered an ectoparasite. The sexes are separate in this species; the female deposits a cluster of a few dozen egg capsules on the host, with several hundred embryos developing in each capsule. The larvae are planktonic and drift with the current, but will need to settle on a suitable gorgonian host in order to continue their development. [2] This false cowrie is well camouflaged so that it is difficult to detect, but may be locally abundant; on the reefs of Poindimié in New Caledonia, for example, each gorgonian may host as many as a dozen of the molluscs. [2]
The flamingo tongue snail is a species of small but brightly colored sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies.
Primovula roseomaculata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Calpurnus verrucosus, the Umbilical Egg Shell or Warty/Little Egg Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the cowries.
Crenavolva traillii, common name Traill's ovulid, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Cuspivolva celzardi is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Cymbovula acicularis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Cyphoma aureocinctum, common name : the gold-banded egg shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Cyphoma macumba is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Ovula ovum, common name the common egg cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Phenacovolva rosea, also known as the rosy spindle cowry, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries. It lives and feeds on fan, whip and bush-type gorgonians.
Testudovolva ericae is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Sandalia meyeriana is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Simnia spelta is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, which are cowrie allies sometimes called "false cowries". It was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus.
Prosimnia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Eocypraeinae of the family Ovulidae.
Lunovula boucheti is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, one of the families of cowry allies.
Lunovula cancellata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, one of the families of cowry allies.
Palmadusta humphreyii, common name : Humphrey's cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
The subfamily Ovulinae, common name the ovulines, is a highly specialized, extant group of sea snails in the family Ovulidae. These are predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the superfamily Cypraeoidea. Species in this subfamily are sometimes referred to as cowries, although this name is commonly used for any member of the superfamily Cypraeoidea.
Amonovula is a monotypic genus of marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries