''Bistolida kieneri'', common name : Kiener's cowry, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a cowry, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognized : *''Bistolida kieneri depriesteri'' Schilder, 1933 *''Bistolida kieneri kieneri'' (Hidalgo, 1906) (synonym : ''Erronea reductesignata'' Schilder, 1924) *''Bistolida kieneri schneideri'' Schilder & Schilder, 1938

Description

The shells of these common cowries reach on average of length, with a minimum size of and a maximum size of . The basic color of these oval-shaped smooth and shiny shells is whitish, with irregular greenish or blueish blotches or trasversal bands and brown small brown spots on the edges of both sides. Also the extremities show two larger brown blotches. The base is mainly whitish, with a narrow sinuous aperture with several short teeth. In the living cowries the mantle is very thin and transparent, with short papillae and external antennae.

Distribution

This species and its subspecies can be found in East

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, in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and in the western

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, in the seas along

Aldabra Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

, Chagos, the

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Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

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, the Mascarene Basin,

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, the

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Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

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and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Habitat

Living cowries can be encountered in tropical shallow water, usually hidden during the day under rocks or corals. As a matter of fact they fear the light and only at dawn or dusk they start feeding on algae or coral polyps.

References

* Burgess, C.M. (1970) - The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey

External links

*
Biolib

Cypraeidae Gastropods described in 1906 {{Cypraeidae-stub