''Arestorides argus'', commonly called the eyed cowrie, 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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

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

Two subspecies are recognized : *''Arestorides argus argus'' ( Linnaeus,

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) *''Arestorides argus contracasta'' Lorenz, 2012 *''Arestorides argus contrastriata'' ( Perry, 1811) : common name : pheasant cowrie: synonym of '' Cypraea contrastriata'' Perry, 1811

Description

This is a large cowry species, with specimens averaging 80mm and measuring up to 115mm. The shape of the shell is approximately cylindrical. The ground color is light to medium tan. Overlying the ground color of the dorsum are many rings of a medium brown color and varying sizes. The rings are likened to eye spots, thus the common name eyed cowry and the specific epithet ''argus'' (after

Argus Panoptes Argus or Argos Panoptes ( grc, Ἄργος Πανόπτης, All-seeing Argos) is a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology. Mythology Argus Panoptes (), guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor and probably Mycene (in other version so ...

, the many-eyed Greek giant). Some individuals have numerous small rings, others have fewer, larger rings; the number and size of rings especially varies between subspecies. The aperture is relatively straight, has well-developed teeth, and is flanked by two dark-brown blotches on each side (the blotches on the outer lip are sometimes small and indistinct).

Distribution

This species and its subspecies are distributed in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Notably, it is found in the seas off

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

Comores The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. I ...

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

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the Mascarene Basin,

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

References

* Verdcourt, B. (1954). ''The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba).'' Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129–144, 17 pls. * Burgess, C.M. (1970). ''The Living Cowries''. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey * MacDonald & Co (1979). ''The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Shells.'' MacDonald & Co. London & Sydney. Cypraeidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cypraeidae-stub