Size: shell size between 44 mm and 52 mm.

 

Key Features: It has an oval, smooth and shiny shell. The dorsum surface is light gray- brown, with several gray spots and many thin longitudinal lines. In the middle of dorsum there is a wide longitudinal stripe. Close to the edges there is a graysh wide frame with several dark brown spots. The base is pale brown, with a wide aperture and fine dark brown teeth on outer and inner lips. In the living cowries the mantle is well developed, quite graysh and almost transparent, with short papillae and external antennae.

 

Diet: feeds on sponges and coral polyps.

 

Habitat:  live in tropical shallow waters at about 2-5 meters of depth mostly in the low intertidal zone.

 

Conservation status: Not Evaluated

 

Distribution in the GoK: reported along the coast of Noru and Chusana Islands.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Fishelson, L., 1971. Ecology and distribution of the benthic fauna in the shallow waters of the Red Sea. Mar. Biol., Berl. 10 2: 113-133

 

Felix Lorenz and Alex Hubert : A Guide to Worldwide Cowries, second revised edition - Conch Books, 2002

 

Burgess, C.M. (1970) - The Living Cowries - AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey

 

 

Photo Courtesy

Unknown. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA. WoRMS for SMEBD.