One Egg Cowry Shell measuring 2 to 3 inches OUT OF STOCK ****

One Egg Cowry Shell measuring 2 to 3 inches.

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OVULA OVUM, common name egg cowrie(Ovula ovum (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Egg Cowry are common species that grow to an average of 2 to 3 inches. The minimum size of 2.0 inches, reaching a maximum length of about 4 1/2 inches. These species are egg-shaped which gives the common name ovum in Latin, meaning egg. The surface of the shell is smooth. They are shiny and completely snow white, with a dark reddish-purple interior that is visible through the wide and long aperture, which bears teeth on one side only. The living cowries have a black mantle with a pattern of small white spots in adults. The juveniles resemble some toxic nudibranchs of the genus Phyllidia owing to their orange yellow sensorial papillae. The lateral flaps of the mantle usually hide completely the white surface, but the mantle is quickly retracted into the shell opening when the cowry is disturbed.(REF: Ovula ovum (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Egg Cowry species are found in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean along East Africa (Aldabra, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Chagos) and in Western and Central Pacific Ocean (New Zealand, Australia, North Sulawesi, Malaysia, Borneo, New Caledonia, Philippines, French Polynesia and southern Japan).

Ovula ovum dwell in tropical reefs, shallow waters to depths of 7 to 66 feet, usually feeding on algae or soft corals, Alcyonarian colonies (REF: Leather Coral, genus Sarcophyton and Sinularia sp., Alcyoniidae).

(REF: Jean-François Hamel & Annie Mercier - Observations on the biology of the common egg shell Ovula ovum)

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Hypsogastropoda

clade Littorinimorpha

Super family: Cypraeoidea

Family: Ovulidae

Subfamily: Ovulinae

Genus: Ovula

Species: O. ovum

Binomial name: Ovula ovum

(Linnaeus, 1758)