| Bernaya teulerei | |
|---|---|
| A shell of Bernaya teulerei, 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: | Bernaya |
| Species: | B. teulerei |
| Binomial name | |
| Bernaya teulerei (Cazenavette, 1846) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Bernaya teulerei, common name Teulere's cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[2]
Bernaya teulerei and Bernaya fultoni are the only two species of the genus Bernaya, belonging to the 'archaic' subfamily Bernaynae. They are considered relics or "living fossils", with numerous rather similar species occurring as Oligocene fossils.
Contents |
The shells of this uncommon species of cowries (at one time it was considered very rare) reach on average 40–48 millimetres (1.6–1.9 in) in length, with a minimum size of 33 millimetres (1.3 in) and a maximum size of 67 millimetres (2.6 in). They are highly variable in pattern. The dorsum surface is not particularly smooth and shiny as is commonly the case in cowries. The basic color is light beige or cream, with irregular dark brown patches on the top and many light brown spots on the sides. The calloused margins are whitish, while the base is white, with a large sinuous aperture with only traces of labial teeth. Bernaya teulerei is externally similar to Bernaya fultoni and Muracypraea mus.
This species occurs in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Oman, in the Hormuz Strait) and in the Indian Ocean, along Eritrea and Somalia.
These cowries live in intertidal shallow waters, mainly on coral reef but also on sandy and muddy sea bed.