''Lyncina leucodon'' 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 ...
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.
Description
The White-toothed Cowry was known from only two specimens until rather recently (one in the National Museum of London, England and one in the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology). The distinctiveness of the shell was easily enough to consider it a new species. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the third and fourth specimens were found. By the 1980s, they were being found with regular frequency and were available on the market for about $5000. By 2000, they were common enough to be available for about $1500 in gem state and less than $1000 for lower quality specimens. The color of the White-toothed Cowry varies from a chocolate-brown to butterscotch with whitish spots of varying size and contrast. The dorsal mantle stripe is very distinctive to the species. A number of subspecies and forms have been described including: ''leucodon'' (pyriform nominate); ''angioyna'' (slight tooth differences); ''tenuidon'' (smaller, heavily spotted and rounder); and ''escotoi'' (small, dark and very round).
Distribution
References
* Poppe G.T. (2004) ''Descriptions of spectacular new species from the Philippines (Gastropoda - Trochidae, Cypraeidae).'' Visaya 1(1): 4–19.
Cypraeidae
Gastropods described in 1832
{{Cypraeidae-stub