Erosaria miliaris

Erosaria miliaris
Erosaria miliaris
A shells of Erosaria miliaris, 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
Genus: Erosaria
Species: E. miliaris
Binomial name
Erosaria miliaris
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cypraea inocellata Gray
  • Cypraea miliaris Gmelin, 1791


Erosaria miliaris, common name the Millet Cowry or the Inocellate Cowry or the Military Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]


Contents

Description

The shells of these very common cowries reach on average 32–38 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in) of length, with a minimum size of 17 millimetres (0.67 in) and a maximum size of 56 millimetres (2.2 in). The dorsum surface of these smooth and shiny shells is generally pale brown or yellowish, with several small white spots. The base is white or pink, with several fine teeth. In the living cowries the mantle is pale brown and greysh, with long tree-shaped sensorial papillae. This species is quite similar to Erosaria lamarckii, but in Erosaria miliaris the edges of the shell are white, without any spots.

A shells of Erosaria miliaris, lateral view, anterior end towards the right
Apertural view of a shells of Erosaria miliaris

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Indian Ocean along Madagascar and Tanzania and in the western Pacific Ocean to Australia, along Japan, East China, Taiwan, Vietnam, East Thailand, East Malaysia, Flores, North Borneo, Java, Philippines and northwestern Australia.


References

  1. ^ a b Erosaria miliaris (Gmelin, 1791) . WoRMS (2009). Erosaria miliaris (Gmelin, 1791) . Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=529723 on 16 October 2010.
  • Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey
  • Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Mollusques testaces marins de Madagascar. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III
  • Verdcourt, B. (1960). The cowries of the East African Coast: Supplement III. JEANHS XXIII (104): 281-285.


External links

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