Trivia arctica

Trivia arctica
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Triviidae
Genus:	Trivia
Species:	T. arctica
Binomial name
	Trivia arctica; (Pulteney, 1799)
Synonyms
	Trivia mollerati(Locard, 1894);

Last updated December 28, 2023

Trivia arctica, the northern cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Triviidae, the trivias. This is a similar species to Trivia monacha and it often occurs in the same areas. The name Trivia means "common" and the word arctica means "of the arctic".

Distribution

This species occurs from the Mediterranean Sea to the Orkney north of Scotland and Norway. It is more common in the north.

In the British Isles the shells are known as "cowries", except in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland where they are called Groatie Buckies. In the Isles of Scilly the shell is referred to as a Guinea Money.^[1]

Habitat

This species usually lives below low tide, in other words is sublittoral, but the empty shells of this species are often washed up onto beaches. In its northern range is found at depths of 100 m and in it southern range at depths up to 1000 m.

Description

The shell is glossy and lemon-shaped, with 20-30 transverse ridges. The upper part of the shell is a uniform very pale brown in color; there are no pigment spots present on the shell, but sometimes there are dots on the mantle of the animal.

The shell length is up to a maximum of about 10 mm and a width of about 8 mm.

The mantle is covered with many papillae. It has a light colour in deeper waters, but becomes darker between tide marks. The foot is light yellow or light orange. The admedian teeth of the radula have denticles. The penis is flat and broad.

The larvae have a light stomach and intestine. In the veliger stage they have a four-lobed velum (a structure used for swimming and particulate food collection) with very long lobes.

Life habits

This snail lives among and feeds on compound ascidians, including Botryllus schlosseri . They often occur together with Trivia monacha. The breeding season is autumn, winter and early spring.

Note on differentiating the species

Both Trivia arctica and Trivia monacha were considered to be two forms of the same species until 1925, when Alfred James Peile published a paper in the Proceedings of the Malacological Society differentiating the two. It is now known that the larvae of the two species are readily distinguishable.

The Linnaean name Trivia europea, now lapsed, referred to the supposed single species. Linnaeus himself mentioned two kinds: Cypraea europea and Cypraea anglica, but these terms were intended as a geographical distinction, and are not accepted as species names today.

Use as ornaments during the Stone age

Large amount of trivia shell ornaments consisting of Trivia arctica and Trivia monacha have been excavated in Stone Age burials at Téviec in northwestern France, dating back to c. 5000–7000 BC.^[2] They are some of the earliest European examples of false cowrie shells used in necklaces and ornaments, for the most part associated with male skeletons. While the trivia genus superficially resembles the true ribbed cowries from the tropics, the two species are not closely related. However, these shells are sometimes called cowries in the British Isles, but are more widely known as false cowries.

Note the existence of a single Monetaria annulus specimen to the left of the skull
Skeletons with trivia ornaments
Skeletons with trivia ornament

Related Research Articles

Cowrie or cowry (pl. cowries) is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Littorinimorpha is a large order of snails, gastropods, consisting primarily of sea snails, but also including some freshwater snails and land snails.

Cypraea leucodon, common name the white-toothed cowry, is a rare cowry, a species of sea snail, or marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Trivia monacha, also known as the European cowrie or spotted cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Triviidae, the trivias.

Trivia is a genus of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Triviidae, the trivias.

Monetaria moneta, common name the money cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

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.

Cypraea tigris, commonly known as the tiger cowrie, is a species of cowry, a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

<i>Cypraea pantherina</i> Species of gastropod

Cypraea pantherina, common name the panther cowry, is a species of large tropical sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The panther cowry is one of only two species currently included in the genus Cypraea, as all other species previously belonging to the genus Cypraea have been reassigned to other genera within the family Cypraeidae.

Leporicypraea mappa, common name the map cowry, is a species of large sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

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

Naria eburnea, common name ivory cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Lyncina lynx, common name : the lynx cowry or eyed cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Naria erosa, common name the gnawed or eroded cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Erronea errones, the wandering cowry or erroneous cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Callistocypraea aurantium, common name the golden cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Nucleolaria nucleus, the wrinkled cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Macrocypraea cervinetta, the little deer cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Contradusta pulchella, common name the pretty cowry or beautiful (little) cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Lyncina sulcidentata, common name the square-toothed cowry or groove-toothed cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

References

↑ "Local Dictionary". Scillonian History. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
↑ "Antlers, bone pins and flint blades: The mesolithic cemeteries of Teviec and Hoedic, Brittany. - Free Online Library". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2012.

Arkive.org : Trivia monacha
Marlin : Trivia monacha
Sabella.mba.ac.uk : The_British_species of Trivia : T. arctica_and T. monacha
Peile, A.J., 1925, The Differentiation as Species of the two forms of British Trivia, Proc. Malac. Soc. 1925, pp;. 195-198
P.J. Wayward & J.S. Ryland, Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996, ISBN 0-19-854055-8

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[1] "Local Dictionary". Scillonian History. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

[2] "Antlers, bone pins and flint blades: The mesolithic cemeteries of Teviec and Hoedic, Brittany. - Free Online Library". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2012.

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