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Monetaria caputserpentis

Species of gastropod From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monetaria caputserpentis
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Monetaria caputserpentis, common name the serpent's-head cowry or snakehead cowry, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]

Quick facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...
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Distribution

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Distribution map of Monetaria caputserpentis

This species occurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, tropical Indo-West Pacific, Australia and the Philippines. This sea snail lives on corals, rock reefs and rocky shores from the intertidal zone down to depths of 200 m.

Description

The basic color of the shell is reddish-brown, with many whitish dots on the top of the dorsum, which sometimes shows a clear longitudinal line. The underside is light beige.

Frequently these shells are sold with a purple top, which is achieved by dipping the dorsum in acid.

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Monetaria caputserpentis

Synonyms

In literature and on various websites the synonym Cypraea caputserpentis is still commonly used.

There are two subspecies :

  • Monetaria caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus (synonym : Cypraea caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Monetaria caputserpentis caputophidii (Schilder, 1927)
Video of two living cowries; Erosaria helvola (seen 1st) & Monetaria caputserpentis (last)
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Monetaria caputserpentis
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Monetaria caputserpentis

References

Further reading

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