| Mauritia maculifera | |
|---|---|
| A shell of Mauritia maculifera from Hawaii, 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: | Mauritia |
| Species: | M. maculifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Mauritia maculifera Schilder, 1932 |
|
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Cypraea maculifera (Schilder, 1932) |
|
Mauritia maculifera, common name : the Blotched Cowry or Reticulated 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 cowries reach on average 44–54 millimetres (1.7–2.1 in) of length, with a minimum size of 30 millimetres (1.2 in) and a maximum size of 89 millimetres (3.5 in). The dorsum surface of these smooth and shiny shells is generally dark brown, with distinct large bluish dots. On the edges there are large brown spots. The base is white or pale brown or pale pinkish. The aperture is long and narrow, with several dark brown teeth. This species can be distinguished by a characteristic brown columellar spot. In the living cowries the mantle is trasparent, with blue sensorial papillae and may cover the entire shell.
This quite common species occurs in the Indian Ocean along Chagos and the Seychelles and in the Pacific Ocean (from South-East Asia, Philippines, Fiji and Micronesia through western Polynesia and Hawaii).
This species lives in tropical shallow water, subtidal and low intertidal, usually under rocks or coral reefs at a minimum depth of about 4 metres (13 ft). As they fear the light, they start feeding at dusk mainly on sponges or coral polyps.
Four subspecies have been recognized : [1]