One Cypraea Argus shell measuring between 2 and 3 inches. *****

The Cypraea Argus shell measures between 2 and 3 inches.

Orders usually process within 2 to 5 business days.

Email us at ja1@mindspring.com Make Your Selections and Shipping Preference. We Will Email You the amount of the Shipping Cost. When you receive the shipping cost go back into Shells of Aquarius and click into Purchase Shipping Label. There you will find UPS or USPS. Click into the option you decided on and make your payment. Your order will ship when shipping payment is received.

CYPRAEA ARGUS

Arestorides argus, commonly called the eyed cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

The Argus cowry species average about 3 inches and can reach 4 1/2 inches. The shape of the shell is roughly cylindrical. The ground color is light to medium tan. Overlying the ground color of the dorsum are many rings of a medium brown color and varying sizes. The rings are likened to eye spots, thus the common name eyed cowry and the specific epithet argus (after Argus Panoptes, the many-eyed Greek giant). Some specimens have numerous small rings, others have fewer, larger rings; the number and size of rings varies between subspecies. The aperture is relatively straight, has well-developed teeth, and is flanked by two dark-brown blotches on each side (the blotches on the outer lip are sometimes small and indistinct).

The Argus and its subspecies are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They have also been seen in the seas off Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Hypsogastropoda

clade Littorinimorpha

Super family: Cypraeoidea

Family: Cypraeidae

Genus: Arestorides

Species: A. argus