Monetaria caputserpentis
| Monetaria caputserpentis |
|
| A live individual of Monetaria caputserpentis, 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: |
Monetaria |
| Species: |
M. caputserpentis |
| Binomial name |
Monetaria caputserpentis
Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Synonyms |
- Cypraea mauritiana Linnaeus, 1758
- Cypraea reticulum Gmelin, 1791
- Cypraea bandata Perry, 1811
- Cypraea albella Lamarck, 1822
- Cypraea caputanguis Philippi, 1849
- Cypraea caputanguis var. sophia Brazier, 1897
- Cypraea caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758
- Cypraea caputserpentis var. caputcolubri Kenyon, 1898
- Cypraea caputserpentis var. candidata Sullioti, 1924
- Cypraea caputserpentis var. argentata Dautzenberg & Bouge, 1933
- Erosaria caputserpentis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis kenyonae Schilder & Schilder, 1938
- Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis mikado Schilder & Schilder, 1938
- Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis var. albosignata Coen, 1949
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Monetaria caputserpentis, common name the serpent's-head cowry, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. [1]
Distribution
This species occurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, tropical Indo-West Pacific, Australia and the Philippines. This sea snail lives on corals, rock reefs and rocky shores from the intertidal zone down to depths of 200 m.
Description
The basic color of the shell is reddish-brown, with many whitish dots on the top of the dorsum, that sometimes shows a clear longitudinal line. The underside is light beige. Frequently these shells can be encountered on the market with a 'Purple Top', as they have been artificially colored dipping their tops in an acid-based formula.
Synonyms
In literature and on the internet the synonym Cypraea caputserpentis is still commonly used.
There are two subspecies :
- Monetaria caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus (synonym : Cypraea caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758)
- Monetaria caputserpentis caputophidii (Schilder, 1927)
Gallery
References
Further reading
- Cantera J. R. (1991). "First record of the Indo-Pacific gastropod Cypraea caputserpentis (Linnaeus, 1758) at Isla Gorgona, Colombia". Veliger 34: 85-87.
- Meyer C. 2003. Molecular systematics of cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) and diversification patterns in the tropics. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 79: 401-459. page(s): 411
External links