One Deer Cowrie Shell measuring 1 to 2 inches. *****

One Deer Cowrie Shell, measuring 1 to 2 inches.

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Lyncina Vitellus common name Pacific Deer Cowry

Deer Cowries grow to an average of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. The smallest length is 3/4 inches to a maximum of 4 inches.

The shape is usually pear-shaped, the dorsum surface is smooth and shiny and may be pale or dark brown, with several small white spots. The margins and the extremities are clearer, while the base is generally white, with a wide sinuous aperture and long labial teeth. The margins show numerous thin vertical whitish lines. The juvenile forms have two to three clearer transversal bands on the shell dorsum. The living cowries mantle is grey-brown, almost transparent, with long whitish tree-shaped papillae. The mantle and foot are well developed, with external antennae.

Deer Cowries dwell in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania and also along Jeju island, Philippines, Palau Islands, Samoa Islands, Polynesia, Hawaii and Vietnam.

These cowries live in tropical intertidal and subtidal water at depths to 82 feet. They prefer coral reefs, usually under coral slabs and stones.

References:

Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758). WoRMS (2009). Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Hypsogastropoda

clade Littorinimorpha

Super family: Cypraeoidea

Family: Cypraeidae

Genus: Lyncina

Species: L. vitellus

Binomial name: Lyncina vitellus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

K1-7