''Naria erosa'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the gnawed or eroded cowry, is a species 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 ...

mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. ;Subspecies: * ''Naria erosa chlorizans'' (Melvill, 1888) * ''Naria erosa erosa'' (Linnaeus, 1758)

Description

The shell of these quite common cowries reaches on average in length, with a maximum size of and a minimum adult size of . The dorsum is yellow-ocher or pale brown, with many small white spots. The extremities of the shell show dark brown spots. A dark brown area which is roughly rectangular is present on each side close to the edge. The base is white to light beige, with thin transverse stripes. At night in the living cowries, the extremely papillose brownish mantle usually covers the shell completely, camouflaging the animal. Cypraea-erosa

Cypraeidae - Erosaria erosa chlorizans f

Distribution

This species and its subspecies occur in the Indian Ocean along the coasts of

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 ...

, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique,

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, Somalia and Tanzania, as well in the Western Pacific Ocean ( Malaysia,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Philippines, Polynesia and Hawaii).

Habitat

These cowries live in warm tropical waters, on shallow intertidal reefs or in lagoons at about of depth. Like most other cowries, during the day they usually hide under rocks slabs with the mantle drawn into the shell. They feed only at dawn or dusk.

References

* Lorenz, F. (2017). Cowries. A guide to the gastropod family Cypraeidae. Volume 1, Biology and systematics. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 644 pp.

External links

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata (10th revised edition), vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae

Biolib

Naria erosa chlorizans

Naria erosa

Erosaria erosa

Malacos
* Cypraeidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cypraeidae-stub