Talostolida teres

Last updated

Talostolida teres
A live individual of Talostolida teres
Talostolida teres 01.JPG
Five views of a shell of Talostolida teres
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Talostolida
Species:
T. teres
Binomial name
Talostolida teres
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms [1]
  • Blasicrura teres(Gmelin, 1791)
  • Cribraria teres(Gmelin, 1791)
  • Cypraea faedataSulliotti, 1911
  • Cypraea subfasciataLink, 1807
  • Cypraea tabescensDillwyn, 1817
  • Cypraea tabescens var. alveolusTapparone-Canefri, 1882
  • Cypraea tabescens var. elaoidesMelvill, 1888
  • Cypraea teres Gmelin, 1791

Talostolida teres, common name the tapering cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [1]

Contents

Subspecies

Recognized subspecies within this species are:

Synonyms

Description

The shells of these quite common cowries reach on average 25–32 millimetres (0.98–1.26 in) of length, with a minimum size of 8 millimetres (0.31 in) and a maximum size of 44 millimetres (1.7 in). They are very variable in pattern and colour. The shape may be cylindrical or sub-cylindrical. The dorsum surface is smooth and shiny, the basic color is whitish, greenish or pale brown, with irregular dark brown patches, sometimes forming two-three transversal bands. The surface may also be completely grey-greenish. The margins are white or pale brown, with some dark dots and a pronounced labial 'callus'. The base is white or pinkish with fine short teeth. In the living cowries mantle is orange-reddish, with white sensorial papillae. Mantle and foot are well developed, with external antennae.

Distribution

This species and the subspecies occur widely in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean off East Africa and South Africa (Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania) and in Western and Eastern Pacific Ocean along Western Australia, Philippines, Bali, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji, Taiwan and Hawaii. [2] The subspecies Blasicrura teres pellucens (Melvill, 1888) reach Galapagos and Panama.

Habitat

These cowries live on rocks or under corals in the intertidal zone.

References

  1. 1 2 Talostolida teres (Gmel., 1791) . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
  2. ↑ OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) (29 May 2024). "Occurrence Records: Talostolida teres". OZCAM. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.