Monetaria caputserpentis

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Monetaria caputserpentis
Cypraea caputserpentis.jpg
A live individual of Monetaria caputserpentis, anterior end towards the right
Monetaria caputserpentis caputserpentis 01.JPG
A shell of Monetaria caputserpentis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Monetaria
Species:
M. caputserpentis
Binomial name
Monetaria caputserpentis
Synonyms
  • Cypraea mauritiana Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cypraea reticulum Gmelin, 1791
  • Cypraea bandata Perry, 1811
  • Cypraea albella Lamarck, 1822
  • Cypraea caputanguis Philippi, 1849
  • Cypraea caputanguis var. sophia Brazier, 1897
  • Cypraea caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cypraea caputserpentis var. caputcolubriKenyon, 1898
  • Cypraea caputserpentis var. candidataSullioti, 1924
  • Cypraea caputserpentis var. argentataDautzenberg & Bouge, 1933
  • Erosaria caputserpentis(Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis kenyonaeSchilder & Schilder, 1938
  • Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis mikadoSchilder & Schilder, 1938
  • Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis var. albosignataCoen, 1949

Monetaria caputserpentis, common name the serpent's-head cowry or snakehead cowry, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [1]

Contents

Distribution

Distribution map of Monetaria caputserpentis Repartition-cypraea-caputserpentis.jpg
Distribution map of Monetaria caputserpentis

This species occurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, tropical Indo-West Pacific, Australia and the Philippines. This sea snail lives on corals, rock reefs and rocky shores from the intertidal zone down to depths of 200 m.

Description

The basic color of the shell is reddish-brown, with many whitish dots on the top of the dorsum, which sometimes shows a clear longitudinal line. The underside is light beige.

Frequently these shells are sold with a purple top, which is achieved by dipping the dorsum in acid.

Monetaria caputserpentis Monetaria caputserpentis ,.jpg
Monetaria caputserpentis

Synonyms

In literature and on various websites the synonym Cypraea caputserpentis is still commonly used.

There are two subspecies :

Video of two living cowries; Erosaria helvola (seen 1st) & Monetaria caputserpentis (last)
Monetaria caputserpentis Cypraeidae - Erosaria caputserpentis-2.JPG
Monetaria caputserpentis
Monetaria caputserpentis Cypraeidae - Erosaria caputserpentis-1.JPG
Monetaria caputserpentis

References

Further reading