Cypraeidae

Cypraeidae have adult shells which are very rounded, almost like an egg; they do not look like a typical gastropod shell. Their glossy, polished, ovate-shaped shells have beautiful patterns in a variety of colors. These patterns, combined with minor variations in shell form, have led some conchologists to recognize 60 genera and hundreds of species and subspecies.

In virtually all of the species in the family Cypraeidae, the shells are extremely smooth and shiny. This is because in the living animal, the shell is nearly always fully covered with the mantle.

The upper surface is typically convex, while the ventral side is flattened. Typically, no spire is visible in the fully adult shell. There is a long, narrow, aperture that runs along the length of the ventral side. The aperture is lined with "teeth".

Juvenile cowry shells are not at all similar to adult cowry shells. The juvenile shells of cowries perhaps more closely resemble the shells of some "bubble snails" in the order Cephalaspidea. Also the shells of juvenile cowries seldom exhibit the same color patterns as the adult shells do, and thus can be hard to identify to species.

Cowries have no operculum.

The Cypraeidae constitute one of the most widely distributed groups of gastropods in tropical and subtropical seas. The cowries are one of the most abundant and diversified groups of shells to be found on reefs and rocky intertidal flats and sandy substrates in the island area.

The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes the adult shells difficult for many predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation:^[2]

• Some tropical crustaceans can break the dorsum of a cowry shell.
• Some mollusc-eating cones, such as Conus textile, can inject venom into the cowry's flesh. The cone then extends its stomach into the shell, through the aperture, to completely ingest the flesh.
• Some octopuses can gouge a small hole (using a special barb/tooth and an acidic secretion) through the shell to inject a venom that kills the animal within.

The eating habits of cowries are poorly known, because most species are nocturnal and cryptic, but sponges are the most commonly described prey. Off the coasts of Australia, common cowry species eat sponges,^[2] and on Caribbean coral reefs they are known to eat sponges that are otherwise chemically defended against other predators.^[3]

For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus, Cypraea, but in 2002 ^[4] the cowries were divided into many different genera.

The family Cypraeidae belongs, together with the family Ovulidae, to the superfamily Cypraeoidea. This, in turn, is part of the clade Littorinimorpha which belongs within the clade Hypsogastropoda according to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005).

The following six subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) but are treated as alternate representation of Cypraeidae in the World Register of Marine Species :

• Cypraeinae Rafinesque, 1815
  • tribe Cypraeini Rafinesque, 1815 - synonym: Porcellanidae Roberts, 1870 (inv.)
  • tribe Mauritiini Steadman & Cotton, 1946
• Erosariinae Schilder, 1924 - synonyms: Cypraeacitinae Schilder, 1930 (inv.); Nariinae Schilder, 1932; Staphylaeinae Iredale, 1935
• Erroneinae Schilder, 1927
  • tribe Erroneini Schilder, 1927 - synonym: Adustinae Steadman & Cotton, 1946
  • tribe Bistolidini C. Meyer, 2003
• Gisortiinae Schilder, 1927 - synonyms: Archicypraeinae Schilder, 1930; Bernayinae Schilder, 1927; Cpraeorbini Schilder, 1927; Mandolininae Schilder, 1932; Umbiliini Schilder 1932; Zoilinae Iredale, 1935
• Luriinae Schilder, 1932
  • tribe Luriini Schilder, 1932 - synonym: Talpariinae Iredale, 1935
  • tribe Austrocypraeini Iredale, 1935
• Pustulariinae Gill, 1871
  • tribe Pustulariini Gill, 1871
  • tribe Cypraeovulini Schilder, 1927
• Zonariinae F. A. Schilder, 1932
  • Tribe Pseudozonariini Lopez Soriano, 2006
  • tribe Zonariini Schilder, 1932

Genera within the family Cypraeidae include:

• Subfamily Cypraeinae Rafinesque, 1815^[5]
  • Cypraea Linnaeus, 1758
  • † Cypraeorbis Timothy Abbott Conrad, 1865
  • Muracypraea Woodring, 1957
  • † Siphocypraea Heilprin, 1887

 

• Subfamily Erosariinae Schilder, 1924^[6]
  • Cryptocypraea Meyer, 2003^[7]
  • Ipsa Jousseaume, 1884
  • Monetaria Troschel, 1863
  • Naria Gray, 1837
  • Nesiocypraea Azuma & Kurohara, 1967
  • Nucleolaria Oyama, 1959
  • † Palaeocypraea Schilder, 1928
  • Perisserosa Iredale, 1930^[7]
  • † Praerosaria Dolin & Lozouet, 2004
  • Propustularia Schilder, 1927
  • Staphylaea Jousseaume, 1884
  • † Subepona Dolin & Lozouet, 2004
• Subfamily Erroneinae Schilder, 1927^[8]
  • Bistolida Cossmann, 1920
  • Erronea Troschel, 1863
• Subfamily † Gisortiinae Schilder, 1927^[9]
  • † Afrocypraea Schilder, 1932
  • † Archicypraea Schilder, 1926
  • † Bernaya Jousseaume, 1884
  • † Garviea Dolin & Dockery, 2018
  • † Gisortia Jousseaume, 1884
  • † Mandolina Jousseaume, 1884
  • † Protocypraea Schilder, 1927
  • † Semicypraea Schilder, 1927
  • † Vicetia Fabiani 1905
• Subfamily Luriinae Schilder, 1932^[10]
• Tribe Austrocypraeini Iredale, 1935
  • Annepona Iredale, 1935
  • Arestorides Iredale 1930
  • Austrocypraea Cossmann, 1903
  • Callistocypraea Schilder, 1927
  • Chelycypraea Schilder, 1927
  • Lyncina Troschel, 1863
  • Raybaudia Lorenz, 2017
  • Trona Jousseaume, 1884
• Tribe Luriini Schilder, 1932
  • † Fossacypraea Schilder, 1939
  • † Jousseaumia Sacco, 1894
  • Luria Jousseaume, 1884
  • Talparia Troschel, 1863
• Subfamily Pustulariinae Gill, 1871^[11]
  • Cypraeovula Gray, 1824
  • Pustularia Swainson, 1840

 

 

• Subfamily Umbiliinae Schilder, 1932^[12]
  • † Gigantocypraea Schilder, 1927
  • Umbilia Jousseaume, 1884

 

• Subfamily Zonariinae F. A. Schilder, 1932
  • Tribe Pseudozonariini Lopez Soriano, 2006
    • Neobernaya Schilder 1927
    • Pseudozonaria Schilder, 1929
    • Plaziatia Dolin & Lozouet, 2004 accepted as Pseudozonaria Schilder, 1929
  • tribe Zonariini Schilder, 1932
    • Proadusta Sacco, 1894 †
    • Prozonarina Schilder, 1941 †
    • Schilderina Dolin & Aguerre, 2020
    • Zonaria Jousseaume, 1884
    • † Zonarina Sacco, 1894
      • Schilderia Tomlin, 1930

• Not assigned to a subfamily
  • Austrasiatica Lorenz, 1989
  • Barycypraea Schilder, 1927
  • Blasicrura Iredale, 1930
  • Contradusta Meyer, 2003^[7]
  • Cribrarula Strand, 1929
  • Eclogavena Iredale, 1930^[7]
  • Ficadusta Habe & Kosuge 1966
  • Leporicypraea Iredale, 1930
  • Macrocypraea Schilder, 1930
  • Mauritia Troschel, 1863
  • Melicerona Iredale, 1930
  • † Miolyncina
  • Notadusta Schilder, 1935
  • Notocypraea Schilder, 1927
  • Ovatipsa Iredale, 1931
  • Palmadusta Iredale, 1930
  • Palmulacypraea Meyer, 2003^[7]
  • Paradusta Lorenz, 2017
  • † Proadusta Sacco 1894
  • Purpuradusta Schilder, 1939
  • Ransoniella Dolin & Lozouet, 2005
  • Talostolida Iredale, 1931
  • Zoila Jousseaume, 1884

For a list of Species in the taxonomic family Cypraeidae, see Cowries.

• Meyer, Christopher P. (2004). "Toward Comprehensiveness : Increased molecular sampling within Cypraeidae and its phylogenetic implications" (PDF). Malacologia. 46 (1): 127–156. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
• Felix Lorenz and Alex Hubert : A Guide to Worldwide Cowries, second revised edition, Conch Books, 2002 ISBN 3-925919-25-2
• Lorenz F. (2017). Cowries. A guide to the gastropod family Cypraeidae. Volume 1, Biology and systematics. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 644 pp.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cypraeidae.

 

Wikispecies has information related to Cypraeidae.

• Cowrie genetic database project
• Zonatus Gallery