Cypraea tigris

Cypraea tigris
Anterior view of a live individual of Cypraea tigris with its mantle fully extended
Five views of a shell of Cypraea tigris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:	Cypraeoidea
Family:	Cypraeidae
Subfamily:	Cypraeinae
Genus:	Cypraea
Species:	C. tigris
Binomial name
Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Cypraea ambigua Gmelin, J.F., 1791 Cypraea feminea Gmelin, J.F., 1791 Cypraea flammea Gmelin, J.F., 1791 Cypraea tigrina Gmelin, J.F., 1791 Cypraea onca Röding, P.F., 1798 Cypraea nigrescens Gray, J.E., 1824 Cypraea alauda Menke, K.T., 1830 Cypraea chionia Melvill, J.C., 1888 Cypraea flavonitens Melvill, 1888 Cypraea hinnula Melvill, 1888 Cypraea ionthodes Melvill, 1888 Cypraea russonitens Melvill, 1888 Cypraea tigris var. lyncichroa Melvill, 1888 Cypraea zymerasta Melvill, 1888 Cypraea flavida Dautzenberg, Ph., 1893 Cypraea incarna Sulliotti, G.R., 1924 Cypraea laminata Sulliotti, G.R., 1924 Cypraea tristis Sulliotti, G.R., 1924 Cypraea nephelodes Lancaster, 1928 Cypraea tigris ambolee (f) Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1943 Cypraea volai Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1943 Cypraea fuscoapicata Coen, G.S., 1949

clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha

Cypraea tigris, commonly known as the tiger cowrie, is a species of cowry, a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

The tiger cowry was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, and the species still bears its original name of Cypraea tigris. Its specific epithet tigris relates to its common name "tiger" (the shell however is spotted, not striped). This species is the type species of the genus Cypraea.

Roughly egg-shaped and dextral, the glossy shell is large and heavy for a cowry. It measures up to 15 cm (6 in) in length, and the upper or dorsal side is white, pale bluish-white, or buff, densely covered with dark brown or blackish barely circular spots. Akin to many other Cypraea snails, the shells surface is notably effulgent, as if it were deliberately polished. There is sometimes a blurred red line along the length of the shell at the midline on the dorsal surface. The lower margins are rounded (that is, there is no sharp margin between the upper and lower surfaces of the shell as is found in some other cowries). The ventral side is white or whitish, and the shell opening is lined with tooth-like serrations.

As is the case in almost all cypraeids, two lateral extensions of the mantle are able to extend so as to cover the shell completely, meeting at the midline of the dorsal surface. The mantle can also withdraw into the shell opening when threatened. In this species, the exterior surface of the mantle has numerous pin-like projections that are white-tipped.

...
Wikipedia