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Leporicypraea mappa (previously known as Cypraea 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. This is considered an economically important species in the Indo-West Pacific , where it is usually collected both for food and for shell trading.
Cowrie or cowry (pl. cowries) is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. The term porcelain derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (porcellana) due to their similar appearance. [1] Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures.
Juvenile cowry shells are not at all similar to adult cowry shells. The juvenile shells of cowries perhaps more closely resemble the shells of some "bubble snails" in the order Cephalaspidea. Also the shells of juvenile cowries seldom exhibit the same color patterns as the adult shells do, and thus can be hard to identify to species.
The largest known fossil cowry was Gisortia gigantiea Munster, 1828 which reached a length of 350mm. The largest modern cowry is the Atlantic Deer Cowry ( Macrocypraea cervus ) at up to 190mm. The largest known cowry from any extant subfamily or genus was the Australian cowry Zoila (Gigantocypraea) gigas (McCoy, 1867) at about 247mm.
The common name Arabian cowry is based on a dense and irregular pattern of thin longitudinal brown lines which are sometimes interrupted by empty spaces, giving an appearance that is considered to be similar to that of Arabic script. Mauritia arabica and its close relative Mauritia eglantina have very similar shells which can be easily confused.
Naria ocellata, common name the ocellate cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [ 1 ] Distribution map of Naria ocellata
Naria spurca, common name the dirty cowry, is a species of sea snail, ... These cowries commonly live at 2–20 metres (6 ft 7 in – 65 ft 7 in) of depth, but they ...
As is the case in most cowries, the subadult shell of Cypraea tigris has a different color pattern. The apex of the shell is a barely visible tubercule at the top right of the shell image Cypraea Tigris. Roughly egg-shaped and dextral, the glossy shell is large and heavy for a cowry. It measures up to 15 cm (6 in) in length, and the upper or ...