Mauritia scurra

Mauritia scurra, common name the jester cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Mauritia scurra
A shell of Mauritia scurra from Philippines, 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:
Cypraeinae
Genus:
Mauritia
Species:
M. scurra
Binomial name
Mauritia scurra
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
  • Cypraea amarata (Meuschen, 1787)
  • Cypraea scurra Gmelin, 1791 (basionym)

Description

The shells of these quite uncommon cowries reach on average 38–43 millimetres (1.5–1.7 in) of length, with a minimum size of 23 millimetres (0.91 in) and a maximum size of 57 millimetres (2.2 in). The shape is slender and slightly cylindrical, the dorsum surface is reticulate, smooth and shiny, the basic color is light brown, with beige round spots. Margins are beige too, wide and rounded, with dark brown spots. The base may be whitish, pinkish or purplish, usually with long fine dark brown teeth along a narrow aperture. In the living cowries mantle is dark grey, with clearer sensorial papillae.

A shell of Mauritia scurra from Philippines, dorsal view, anterior end towards the right
A shell of Mauritia scurra from Philippines, lateral view, anterior end towards the right
A shell of Mauritia scurra from Philippines, apertural view, anterior end towards the right

Distribution

This species and subspecies range across the Central and East Indian Ocean along East Africa (Red Sea, Somalia, Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles) and in the West Pacific Ocean (Malaysia, Sulu Sea, Eastern Australia, Philippines, Samar Island, French Polynesia, Oceania, Hawaii).

Habitat

These cowries mainly live on coral reef in tropical subtidal and intertidal waters and in the continental shelf, usually hidden under rocks, coral slabs or small caves during the day, as they start feeding at dusk.

Subspecies
  • Mauritia scurra mundula, Lorenz, 2002
  • Mauritia scurra scurra, (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Mauritia scurra indica, (Gmelin, 1791)

References
  • Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Mollusques testaces marins de Madagascar. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III
  • Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey
  • Surya Rao, KV and Subba Rao, NV (1991) Mollusca State fauna series 2: Fauna of Lakshadweep ZSI, Calcutta
  • Poppe, GT and Poppe, P (1996) Conchology, Inc.
  • Biolib
  • Mauritia scurra
  • "Mauritia scurra indica". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  • WoRMS
  • Clade


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