| Erosaria ocellata | |
|---|---|
| A shell of Erosaria ocellata, 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: | Erosariinae |
| Genus: | Erosaria |
| Species: | E. ocellata |
| Binomial name | |
| Erosaria ocellata (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Erosaria ocellata, common name the Ocellate Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]
Contents |
The shells of these quite uncommon cowries reach on average 25–30 millimetres (0.98–1.2 in) of length, with a minimum size of 14 millimetres (0.55 in) and a maximum size of 57 millimetres (2.2 in). They are oval and have a medium thickness. The dorsum surface of these smooth and shiny shells has generally a fawn or cream color and it is spread with numerous white spots, a few of them with a black centre (hence the Latin name ocellata). The base is whitish and often has a brown blotch, while the pronounced margins show various fawn spots on a pale background. In the living cowries mantle and foot are well developed, with external antennae.
This species is distributed in the northern Indian Ocean (see range map) along Mozambique, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, southern India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, up to Thailand, southern Java and Melanesia.
Erosaria ocellata lives in tropical and subtropical zone, from shallow intertidal water up to 0–90 metres (0–300 ft) of depth, feeding on algae or coral polyps.