Cribrarula cribraria

Cribrarula cribraria
	Five views of a shell of Cribrarula cribraria
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Cribrarula
Species:	C. cribraria
Binomial name
	Cribrarula cribraria; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Cribraria cribraria (Linnaeus, 1758); Cypraea cribraria Linnaeus, 1758;

Cribrarula cribraria, the 'sieve/tan and white cowry', is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Description[edit]

The mantle of this cowry is translucent bright orange-red. Cribrarula cribraria is one of the most recognizable cowries. The shells reach 10–44 millimetres (0.39–1.73 in) of length. These shells are smooth, their basic coloration is pale brown or fawn, with several circular white spots. The edges of the shell are white, as is the flat base.

Distribution[edit]

This species and its subspecies are distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, the Seychelles and Tanzania.

Habitat[edit]

This species can be encountered in intertidal and shallow waters at 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) of depth, mainly underneath coral rubble and rocks. They mostly feed at night on encrusting sponges.

Subspecies[edit]

The following subspecies are recognized :^[1]

Cribrarula cribraria australiensis Lorenz, 2002
Cribrarula cribraria comma (Perry, 1811)
Cribrarula cribraria cribraria (Linnaeus, 1758)

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Cribrarula cribraria. WoRMS (2009). Cribrarula cribraria. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=396627 on 11 October 2010 .

Bozzetti, L., 2007. Cribrarula toliaraensis (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) nuova specie dal Madagascar sud-occidentale. Malacologia Mostra Mondiale 56: 3-4

External links[edit]

Underwater Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
Biolib
Photos of Cribrarula cribraria on Sealife Collection

Media related to Cribrarula cribraria at Wikimedia Commons

This Cypraeidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[WoRMS-1] Cribrarula cribraria. WoRMS (2009). Cribrarula cribraria. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=396627 on 11 October 2010 .

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