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Cowries
Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used worldwide as shell money. It is most abundant in the Indian Ocean, and was collected in the Maldive Islands, in Sri Lanka, along the Indian Malabar coast, in Borneo and on other East Indian islands, in Maluku Islands, Maluku in the Pacific, and in various parts of the African coast from Ras Hafun, in Somalia, to Mozambique. Cowrie shell money was important in the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. In the United States and Mexico, cowrie species inhabit the waters off Central California to Baja California (the chestnut cowrie is the only cowrie species native to the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of the United States; further south, off the coast of Mexico, Central America and Peru, Macrocypraea cervinetta, Little Deer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypraeidae
Cypraeidae, common name, commonly named the cowries ( cowry or cowrie), is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small to large sea snails. These are marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies. Shell description Cypraeidae have adult shells which are very rounded, almost like an egg; they do not look like a typical gastropod shell. Their glossy, polished, ovate-shaped shells have beautiful patterns in a variety of colors. These patterns, combined with minor variations in shell form, have led some conchologists to recognize 60 genera and hundreds of species and subspecies. In virtually all of the species in the family Cypraeidae, the shells are extremely smooth and shiny. This is because in the living animal, the shell is nearly always fully covered with the mantle (mollusc), mantle. The upper surface is typically convex, while the ventral side is flattened. Typically, no spire (mollusc), spire is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shell Money
Shell money is a medium of exchange similar to coin money and other forms of commodity money, and was once commonly used in many parts of the world. Shell money usually consisted of whole or partial sea shells, often worked into beads or otherwise shaped. The use of shells in trade began as direct commodity exchange, the shells having use-value as body ornamentation. The distinction between beads as commodities and beads as money has been the subject of debate among economic anthropologists. Shell money has appeared in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia. The shell most widely used worldwide as currency was the shell of '' Cypraea moneta'', the money cowry. This species is most abundant in the Indian Ocean, and was collected in the Maldive Islands, in Sri Lanka, along the Malabar coast, in Borneo and on other East Indian islands, and in various parts of the African coast from Ras Hafun to Mozambique. Cowry shell money was an important part of the trade networks of Afric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chestnut Cowrie
''Neobernaya spadicea'', common name the chestnut cowrie, is a species of sea snail in the cowrie family, Cypraeidae. Chestnut cowries can be found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from central California to Baja California. The chestnut cowrie has a highly glossy shell due to an enamel that is secreted from its mantle. Distribution and habitat The chestnut cowrie is the only species of cowrie in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It can be found in intertidal zones from Monterey, California to Isla Cedros, Baja California. It is common in Southern California, specifically around the Channel Islands. Chestnut cowries are rare in the portion of their range that is north of Santa Barbara, California. Chestnut cowries live in kelp beds and rocky surfaces in intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovulidae
Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family (biology), family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Ovulidae J. Fleming, 1822. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1747 on 2020-05-25 Distribution The ovulids are a widespread family, occurring mostly in tropical and subtropical waters, with most species in the Indo-West Pacific region. But a few species live in temperate waters. Habitat Ovulids are carnivorous molluscs that feed on polyp (zoology), polyps and tissues of Anthozoa (as do the genera ''Cyphoma'' and ''Pseudocyphoma''). They live on, and eat, soft corals and sea fans, and they are usually regarded as ectoparasites of these Sessility (zoology), sessile colonial organisms, to which they are anchored by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monetaria Moneta
''Monetaria moneta'', common name the money cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.WoRMS : Monetaria moneta accessed : October 20, 2010 This species is called "money cowrie" because the shells were historically widely used in many Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Ocean countries as shell money before coinage was in common usage. Description and characteristics It is a quite small cowry, up to , irregular and flattened, with very calloused edges and roughly subhexagonal. The color is pale (from white to dirty beige), but the dorsum seems transparent, often greenish grey with yellowish margins, with sometimes darker transverse stripes and a delicate yellow ring. The opening is wide and white, with pronounced denticules. ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macrocypraea Cervinetta
''Macrocypraea'' is a genus of large sea snails, cowries, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the family (biology), family Cypraeidae, the cowries. Species Species within the genus ''Macrocypraea'' include: *''Macrocypraea cervinetta'' (Louis Charles Kiener, Kiener, 1843) *''Macrocypraea cervus'' (Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus, 1771) *''Macrocypraea mammoth'' Simone & Cavallari, 2020 *''Macrocypraea zebra'' (Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus, 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 1758) References * Petuch E.J. & Drolshagen M. (2011) Compendium of Florida fossil shells, volume 1. Wellington, Florida: MdM Publishing. 412 pp External links Simone L.R.L. & Cavallari D.C. (2020). A new species of Macrocypraea (Gastropoda, Cypraeidae) from Trindade Island, Brazil, including phenotypic differentiation from remaining congeneric species. PLOS ONE. 15(1): e0225963. Cypraeidae Gastropod genera {{Cypraeidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypraea Chinensis With Fully Extended Mantle
''Cypraea'' is a genus of medium-sized to large sea snails or cowries, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. Species Species within the genus ''Cypraea'' include: * † ''Cypraea ficoides'' (Hutton, 1873) * ''Cypraea pantherina'' Lightfoot, 1786 * † ''Cypraea porcellus'' Brocchi, 1814 * ''Cypraea tigris'' Linnaeus, 1758 ;Nomen dubium: * ''Cypraea contrastriata'' Perry, 1811 (synonyms: ''Arestorides argus contrastriata'' (Perry, 1811); ''Cypraea argus contrastriata'' Perry, 1811; ''Talparia argus contrastriata'' (Perry, 1811) ) Synonyms Almost all species previously belonging to ''Cypraea'' have been reassigned to other genera within the family Cypraeidae: * ''Cypraea achatidea'' Sowerby, 1837: synonym of ''Schilderia achatidea'' * ''Cypraea acicularis'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of ''Erosaria acicularis'' * ''Cypraea aenigma'' Lorenz, 2002: synonym of ''Nesiocypraea aenigma'' * ''Cypraea albuginosa'' Gray, 1825: synonym of ''Erosaria albuginosa'' * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maldive Islands
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia. Its land area is only , but this is spread over roughly of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states. With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the second least populous country in Asia and the ninth-smallest country by area, but also one of the most densely populated countries. The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of above sea level, and a highest natural point of only , making it the world's lowest-lying country. Some sources state the highest point, Mount Villingili, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central California
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California (which includes Los Angeles and San Diego) and south of Northern California (which includes San Francisco and San Jose, California, San Jose). It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley (which itself is the southern portion of the Central Valley (California), Central Valley, beginning at the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta), part of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges and the foothills and mountain areas of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), central Sierra Nevada. Central California is considered to be west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. East of the Sierra is Eastern California. The largest cities in the region (over 50,000 population), from most to least populous, are Sacramento, California, Sacramento, Fresno, California, Fresno, Bakersfield, California, Bak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ..., and affiliated with Columbia University. Founded in 1893, it is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology, religion, film, and international studies. History Columbia University Press was founded in May 1893. In 1933, the first four volumes of the ''History of the State of New York'' were published. In the early 1940s, the Press' revenues rose, partially thanks to the ''Encyclopedia'' and the government's purchase of 12,500 copies for use by the military. Columbia University Press is notable for publishing r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
The ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and, in the last edition, sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its relationship with Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ..., the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is the sixth, printed in 2000. It contains over 51,000 articles totaling some 6.5 million words and has also been published in two volumes. An electronic version of the encyclopedia is available, and the ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' is licensed by several different companies for use over the Internet. See also *'' Lincoln Library of Essential Information'' * Lists of encyclopedias * List of online encyclopedias Referenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and the southern portion of the East Coast of the United States, Eastern United States. The region includes a core of states that reaches north to Maryland and West Virginia, bordering the Ohio River and Mason–Dixon line, and stretches west to Arkansas and Louisiana. There is no official Federal government of the United States, U.S. government definition for the region, and it is defined variably among agencies and organizations. History The history of the present-day Southeastern United States dates to the dawn of civilization in approximately 11,000 BC or 13,000 BC. The earliest artifacts from the region were from the Clovis culture. Prior to the arrival of Colonial history of the United States, European colonialists, Native Americans in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
