Ovatipsa chinensis

Ovatipsa chinensis
Ovatipsa chinensis
Live Ovatipsa chinensis with mantle partly extended, head end to the left
Ovatipsa chinensis with its mantle fully extended
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Ovatipsa
Species: O. chinensis
Binomial name
Ovatipsa chinensis
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cribraria chinensis (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Cribraria cruenta
  • Cypraea chinensis Gmelin, 1791 (basionym)
  • Cypraea cruenta
  • Erronea chinensis (Gmelin, 1791)

Ovatipsa chinensis common name the Chinese cowrie or the 'Clear Chinensis', is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [1]

Contents

Description

The mantle of the living cowries is bright red, completely covered by short fringes. The shells of this species reach 25–50 millimetres (0.98–2.0 in) of length. They are smoot and elongate, light brown or yellowish with clear dots on the dorsum and a flat white base. In the subspecies Ovatipsa chinensis var. variolaria (Lamarck, 1810) the basic colorof the shell is light brown, with slight purple spots on the edges.

Ovatipsa chinensis var. variolaria, Philippines - dorsal view
Ovatipsa chinensis var. variolaria, Philippines - lateral view

Distribution and Habitat

This species is found throughout the Indian Ocean and in the Central Pacific Ocean, in seas along Red Sea, East Africa, Australia, Indonesia and Philippines, in intertidal waters at 35–45 metres (115–148 ft) of depth . The Chinese cowry is active at night and hides under rocks in cracks and crevices during the day.

Subspecies

The following subspecies have been recognized : [1]

  • Ovatipsa chinensis chinensis (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Ovatipsa chinensis variolaria (Lamarck, 1810)
  • Ovatipsa chinensis violacea (Rous, 1905)

References

  1. ^ a b c WoRMS : Ovatipsa chinensis; accessed : 11 October 2010

External links

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