''Cypraeovula volvens'' 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 ...
of
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.
Description
Shell spheroid and umbilicate, light and fragile, small (20–23 mm). Dorsum variably colored, clear pink to dark violet, with rather small brown spots laterally, decreasing in size. Flanks weakly pointed and sometimes provided with small protuberances. Labial edge orange-pink, rather thickened, with the anterior labial extremity weakly evident and the posterior labial one more
developed. Base mostly clear, with margins colored and patterned as the dorsum; aperture curved and narrow. Labial dentition developed and coarse. Columellar dentition thinner, weakly evident, disappearing in the more callous specimens. Peristome smooth or with fine ribbing. Fossula rather thickened, shallow, with 3-4 well developed denticles in fully grown specimens. Soft parts generally translucent; head, mantle and foot cream-grey and weakly spotted with black. Mantle provided with numerous thread-like and semitransparent papillae.
Distribution
The holotype and paratypes were dredged in June 2003 on rocky bottoms by Philip J. Jooste off the eastern coast of South Africa, NE of Port Alfred, at a depth of about 88–100 m.
References
volvens
Gastropods described in 2004
{{Cypraeidae-stub