Erronea onyx

Erronea onyx
Erronea onyx
A shell of Erronea onyx, lateral 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: Erroneinae
Genus: Erronea
Species: E. onyx
Binomial name
Erronea onyx
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cypraea onyx Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym)
  • Cypraea pulla Gmelin, J.F., 1791
  • Cypraea prunus Röding, P.F., 1798

Erronea onyx, common name the Onyx 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 quite common cowries reach on average 32–38 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in) of length, with a minimum size of 24 millimetres (0.94 in) and a maximum size of 57 millimetres (2.2 in). The dorsum surface of Erronea onyx is smooth, shiny and generally golden brown, with alternating longitudinal fuzzy bands of traslucent bluish and reddish colors (hence the Latin name onyx). The base and the margins are dark brown or black, sometimes the teeth are orange (especially in Erronea onyx adusta). In the living cowries mantle is dark brown, quite thin, with bluish papillae.

A shell of Erronea onyx, anterior end towards the right
A shell of Erronea onyx adusta from Zanzibar, anterior end towards the right
Dorsal view of shells of Erronea onyx

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Tanzania and in the Pacific Ocean along East China, Thailand, northern Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Palau Islands and Solomon Islands.

Habitat

Erronea onyx lives in tropical and subtropical zone, in shallow subtidal water up to 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) of depth, mainly in muddy areas or sandy sea floor, feeding on algae or coral polyps.

Subspecies

  • Cypraea onyx adusta, Lamarck, 1810
  • Cypraea onyx nymphae, Jay, 1850

References

  1. ^ a b Erronea onyx (Linnaeus). WoRMS (2009). Erronea onyx (Linnaeus). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216860 on 21 October 2010.
  • Verdcourt, B. (1954). The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129-144, 17 pls.
  • Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey

External links


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