Macrocypraea cervinetta | |
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A shell of Macrocypraea cervinetta from Panama, dorsal view, anterior end towards the right | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
(unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
Superfamily: | Cypraeoidea |
Family: | Cypraeidae |
Subfamily: | Cypraeinae |
Genus: | Macrocypraea |
Species: | M. cervinetta |
Binomial name | |
Macrocypraea cervinetta Kiener, 1843 |
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Synonyms | |
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Macrocypraea cervinetta, the little deer cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
The shells reaches about 40–110 millimetres (1.6–4.3 in) of length, with a width of about 15–50 millimetres (0.59–1.97 in). The shape of this cowry is elongated, its basic colour is light brown, with small whitish ocellated spots on the dorsum and dark brown apertural teeth. The dorsum shows also a few trasversal clearer bands and a longitudinal line.
This species occurs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from California to Peru including the Galapagos Islands. It is mainly encountered at low tide under corals and rocks.