Macrocypraea cervinetta

Macrocypraea cervinetta, the little deer cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. ^[1]

Subspecies

• Macrocypraea cervinetta californica Lorenz, 2017
• Macrocypraea cervinetta cervinetta (Kiener, 1844)

Macrocypraea cervinetta
A shell of Macrocypraea cervinetta from Panama, dorsal view, anterior end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Macrocypraea
Species:	M. cervinetta
Binomial name
Macrocypraea cervinetta Kiener, 1843
Synonyms
Cypraea cervinetta Kiener 1843

Description

The shells reaches about 40–110 millimetres (1.6–4.3 in) of length, with a width of about 15–50 millimetres (0.59–1.97 in). The shape of this cowry is elongated, its basic colour is light brown, with small whitish ocellated spots on the dorsum and dark brown apertural teeth. The dorsum shows also a few trasversal clearer bands and a longitudinal line.

Macrocypraea cervinetta, side view

Macrocypraea cervinetta var. nana, Panama

Distribution

This species occurs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California to Peru including the Galapagos Islands. It is mainly encountered at low tide under corals and rocks.