Barycypraea fultoni
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Barycypraea fultoni massieri |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Barycypraea fultoni | ||||||||||||
| ( Sowerby III , 1903) |
Barycypraea fultoni is a rare cowrie shell thatlivesin the western Indian Ocean . The rarity of the finds of the shell of this snail suggests an inhabitant of the deep water. The species becomes up to 8 cm long.
Barycypraea fultoni is native to the sea off the coasts of South and East Africa.
description
The shell of this snail is heavily thickened, which makes it very heavy. The typical case sizes for Barycypraea fultoni are between 54 and 80 mm, the largest shell found so far is 85 mm.
On the top of the case there is an irregular drawing made up of curved lines and brown colored areas, which merges into the remaining, monochrome white or gray areas without any clear delimitation. As with most cowrie shells, there is a row of teeth on both sides of the elongated, narrow opening. This distinguishes Barycypraea fultoni from the related species Barycypraea teulerei , whose housing opening has smooth edges. In Barycypraea teulerei, the brown markings on the surface of the housing clearly stand out from the rest of the housing.
The type subspecies Barycypraea fultoni fultoni is colored brown between the teeth, the subspecies Barycypraea fultoni massieri does not have this coloration, sometimes a few brown spots can be seen on the edges. Barycypraea fultoni amorini differs from the other two subspecies in that it has a larger number of brown spots around the opening.
distribution
Barycypraea fultoni occurs at depths between 60 and 250 meters. The subspecies Barycypraea fultoni amorimi and Barycypraea fultoni massieri come mainly from the coasts of Mozambique , the nominate form Barycypraea fultoni fultoni is only known from the coasts of eastern South Africa.
research
Barycypraea fultoni was first described by George Brettingham Sowerby III in 1903 as Cypraea fultoni . For a long time, this cowrie snail was the only recent representative of its genus, which was originally set up for the extinct Barycypraea caputphiae . Only later was Barycypraea teulerei also placed in the genus Barycypraea , but this assignment is still controversial today.
By 1970 only 25 specimens had been found worldwide, mostly in the bowels of fish. It was not until the deeper and deeper trawl fishery that the dredge of a Russian trawler caught two casings off Mozambique in 1987 and brought them to the surface. Live specimens have only recently been caught off South Africa. Because of their rarity, the cases are highly valued by collectors.
Subspecies
- Barycypraea fultoni amorimi Raybaudi , 1989
- Barycypraea fultoni fultoni ( Sowerby III , 1903) ( type subspecies)
- Barycypraea fultoni massieri Lorenz , 1991 (This subspecies was later regarded as a form of the subspecies Barycypraea fultoni amorimi by its first descriptor Felix Lorenz .)
Individual evidence
- ^ WR Liltved: Cowries and their relatives of southern Africa. A study of the southern African cypraeacean and velutinacean gastropod fauna. Seacomber Publications, 1989, p. 87
- ↑ B. Verdcourt: The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba) . Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society, 22, 4, 96, pp. 129-144, 1954
- ↑ Cypraea fultoni ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Distribution map and pictures on cypraea.eu (accessed March 7, 2013)
- ^ RE Petit: George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa, 2189, pp. 1-218, 2009
- ↑ Fabio Moretzsohn: barycypraea fultoni fultoni (Sowerby III, 1903) . World Register of Marine Species, 2012 (accessed March 6, 2013)
- ^ L. Raybaudi: (1989) Barycypraea fultoni Sowerby 1903. The Connoisseur of Seashells 23, winter 1989-90. Pp. 2-4, 1989
- ^ Felix Lorenz: Descriptions of a new subspecies of Barycypraea fultoni with notes on the genus Barycypraea. Schriften zur Malacozoologie, 4, pp. 27–38, 1991 (first description of the subspecies)
literature
- R. Tucker Abbott, S. Peter Dance: Compendium of Seashells: A Full-Color Guide to More than 4200 of the World's Marine Shells . 1983, p. 94 ISBN 0-525-93269-0
- Felix Lorenz & Alex Hubert: A Guide To Worldwide Cowries . Conch Books, 2000, p. 37 ISBN 3-925919-25-2
