Cypraeidae
| Cypraeidae | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
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| A live Talparia talpa in situ with its mantle almost fully extended, anterior end towards the right | |
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| Shells of a number of species of cowries | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Cypraeoidea |
| Family: |
Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815 |
| Genera | |
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See list |
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clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
See list
Cypraeidae, common name the cowries (singular: cowry), is a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.
Cypraeidae have adult shells which are very rounded, almost like an egg; they do not look like a typical gastropod shell. 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.
Typically, no spire is visible in the fully adult shell, and there is a long, narrow, aperture which is lined with "teeth."
Juvenile cowry shells are not at all similar to adult cowry shells. The juvenile shells of cowries perhaps more closely resemble the shells of some "bubble snails" in the order Cephalaspidea. Also the shells of juvenile cowries seldom exhibit the same color patterns as the adult shells do, and thus can be hard to identify to species.
Cowries have no operculum.
The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes the adult shells difficult for many predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation:
The eating habits of cowries are poorly known, because most species are nocturnal and cryptic, but sponges are the most commonly described prey. Off the coasts of Australia, common cowry species eat sponges, and on Caribbean coral reefs they are known to eat sponges that are otherwise chemically defended against other predators.
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Wikipedia