Staphylaea limacina

Staphylaea limacina, common name slug-like cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Staphylaea limacina
Shell of Staphylaea limacina from Philippines at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Staphylaea
Species:	S. limacina
Binomial name
Staphylaea limacina (Lamarck, 1810)
Synonyms[1]
Cypraea limacina Lamarck, 1810 (basionym)

Description

The shell size varies between 8 mm and 39 mm. This shell is oval, the dorsum surface is usually pale brown or pinkish with whitish spots or small round whitish protuberances and two orange-brown areas at the extremities, while the base is white. In the living cowries the mantle may have a brown, orange or reddish coloration, with paler finger-like projections.

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Southeast Asia, in Australia and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles and Tanzania.

Subspecies

• Staphylaea limacina clarissa Lorenz, 1989
• Staphylaea limacina interstincta (Wood, 1828)