Ransoniella punctata

Ransoniella punctata, common name the brown-spotted cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Brown-spotted cowry
Shell of Ransoniella punctata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Ransoniella
Species:	R. punctata
Binomial name
Ransoniella punctata (Linnaeus, 1771)
Synonyms
See list

Subspecies

• Ransoniella punctata punctata (Linnaeus, 1771)
• Ransoniella punctata berinii (Dautzenberg, 1906)
• Ransoniella punctata trizonata (Sowerby III, 1870)

Description

The shell size varies between 7.5 mm and 20 mm. The dorsum surface is usually light white or yellowish, with small brown spots.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean off Chagos, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania and off Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia) and Vanuatu.^[2]

Synonyms

• Cypraea atomaria Gmelin, 1791 (original combination)
• Cypraea punctata Linnaeus, 1771
• Cypraea punctata punctata Linnaeus, 1771
• Evenaria carula Iredale, 1939 (original combination)
• Notadusta punctata (Linnaeus, 1771)
• Notadusta punctata punctata (Linnaeus, 1771) · accepted, alternate representation
• Palmadusta punctata (Linnaeus, 1771)
• Palmadusta punctata atomaria (Gmelin, 1791)
• Palmadusta punctata iredalei (Schilder & Schilder, 1938) (Synonym)
• Ransoniella atomaria (Gmelin, 1791)
• Ransoniella bulbosa Dolin, 2007^[3]
• Ransoniella carula (Iredale, 1939)
• Ransoniella erminea Dolin, 2007^[4]
• Ransoniella fusula Dolin, 2007^[5]
• Ransoniella glandina Dolin, 2007^[6]
• Ransoniella iredalei (Schilder & Schilder, 1938)
• Ransoniella labiosa Dolin, 2007^[7]
• Ransoniella meyeri Dolin, 2007^[8]
• Ransoniella oryza Dolin, 2007^[9]
• Ransoniella persticta (Iredale, 1939)
• Ransoniella punctata (Linnaeus, 1771)
• Ransoniella radiosa Dolin, 2007^[10]
• Ransoniella serrata Dolin, 2007^[11]
• Ransoniella uvula Dolin, 2007^[12]
• Ransoniella vulgata Dolin, 2007^[13]
• Ransoniella zyzypha Dolin, 2007^[14]