A mollusc family. It is a member of the superfamily Cypraeoidea. Its species are known as cowries.
For collectors, this is the most popular family of molluscs, probably because the very smooth, shiny, porcelain-like outside and the bright patterns and colours. It is a large group with more than 200 named species with many different and local variants. There is one genera, Cypraea, which has been divided into subgenera over the years, based on differences in anatomy and the structure of the shells. Kay Vaught described 55 subgenera. [1]
Major genera
Partial list of species
- Cypraea achatidea (Sowerby 1837)
- Cypraea algoensis (Gray 1825)
- Cypraea annettae (Dall 1909)
- Cypraea arabica (Schilder and Schilder 1939)
- Cypraea arabicula (Lamarck 1810)
- Cypraea argus (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea aurantium (Gmelin 1791)
- Cypraea bistrinotata (Schilder and Schilder 1937)
- Cypraea capensis (Grey 1828)
- Cypraea caputdraconis (Melvill 1888)
- Cypraea cervus (Linnaeus 1771)
- Cypraea cinerea (Gmelin 1791)
- Cypraea coronata (Schilder 1930)
- Cypraea coxeni (Cox 1873)
- Cypraea cribraria (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea eglantina (Duclos 1833)
- Cypraea erythraensis (Sowerby 1837)
- Cypraea friendii (Gray 1831)
- Cypraea hesitata (Iredale 1916)
- Cypraea humphreysi (Gray 1825)
- Cypraea isabella (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea lurida (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea marginalis (Dillwyn 1827)
- Cypraea marginarta (Gaskoin 1849)
- Cypraea miliaris (Gmelin 1791)
- Cypraea moneta (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea nigropunctata (Gray 1828)
- Cypraea obvelata (Lamarck 1810)
- Cypraea onyx (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea ovum (Gmelin 1791)
- Cypraea pallida (Gray 1824)
- Cypraea rosselli (Cotton 1948)
- Cypraea quadrimaculata (Gray 1824)
- Cypraea teulerei (Cazevanette 1845)
- Cypraea tessellata (Swainson 1822)
- Cypraea zebra (Linnaeus 1758)
- Cypraea ziczac (Linnaeus 1758)
References
- ^ The Encyclopedia of Shells. Quintet Publishing Limited. 1991. ISBN 90-5920-049-7.
| This article is part of Project Mollusca, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each mollusc, including made-up species. |
| 138x138px | This article is part of Project Gastropoda, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each gastropod, including made-up species. |
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