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Cypraeidae, common name
Common name

A common name is a name in general use within a community . A common name is not necessarily a commonly used name.Many of the conventions and traditions described in this article are based on the English language, and thus may not apply to common names in other languages....
 the cowries (singular: cowry
Cowry

Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural always cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, ocean gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae....
), is a taxonomic family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
 of small to large sea snail
Snail

The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
s. These are marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea
Cypraeoidea

Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the suborder Hypsogastropoda....
, the cowries and cowry allies.

For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, Cypraea, but recently the cowries have been divided into many different genera.

aeidae have adult shells which are very rounded, almost like an egg; they do not look like a typical gastropod shell
Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a seashell which is part of the body of a Gastropoda or snail. It is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage....
.






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Cypraeidae, common name
Common name

A common name is a name in general use within a community . A common name is not necessarily a commonly used name.Many of the conventions and traditions described in this article are based on the English language, and thus may not apply to common names in other languages....
 the cowries (singular: cowry
Cowry

Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural always cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, ocean gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae....
), is a taxonomic family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
 of small to large sea snail
Snail

The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
s. These are marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea
Cypraeoidea

Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the suborder Hypsogastropoda....
, the cowries and cowry allies.

For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, Cypraea, but recently the cowries have been divided into many different genera.

Shell description

Cypraeidae have adult shells which are very rounded, almost like an egg; they do not look like a typical gastropod shell
Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a seashell which is part of the body of a Gastropoda or snail. It is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage....
. 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
Mantle (mollusc)

The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsum body wall which covers the visceral mass.In many, but by no means all, species of molluscs, the Epidermis of the mantle secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin, and creates a mollusc shell....
.

Typically, no spire
Spire (mollusc)

File:Turritella communis Turmschnecke.jpgFile:Little snail.JPGFile:Xerolenta obvia3pl.jpgFile:Planorbarius_corneus_top.jpgA spire is a descriptive term for part of the Animal shell of a snail, a gastropod mollusc shell or gastropod shell....
 is visible in the fully adult shell, and there is a long, narrow, aperture
Aperture (mollusc)

The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
 which 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
Cephalaspidea

The suborder Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bulla , is a suborder of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks....
. 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
Operculum (gastropod)

The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous structure which exists in some groups of marine, freshwater, but not in terrestrial snails or gastropods....
.

Predators

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:

  • Some tropical crustaceans can break the dorsum of a cowry shell.


  • Some mollusc-eating cones like Conus textile
    Conus textile

    Conus textile is a species of cone snail known as the cloth of gold. It lives in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, Australia, the Indian Ocean from eastern Africa to Hawaii, and French Polynesia....
     can inject venom
    Venom

    Venom is any of a variety of poisons used by certain types of animals. Generally, venom is injected by such means as a bite or a sting....
     into the cowry's flesh. The cone then extends its stomach into the shell, through the slit, to completely ingest the flesh.


  • Some octopus
    Octopus

    The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
    es 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.


Taxonomy

The family Cypraeidae belongs, together with the family Ovulidae
Ovulidae

Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies....
, to the superfamily Cypraeoidea
Cypraeoidea

Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the suborder Hypsogastropoda....
. This, in turn, is part of the clade
Clade

A clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article in the conventional sense of "an a...
 Littorinimorpha, that belongs within the clade Hypsogastropoda.

The following subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) :
  • Subfamily Bernayinae
    • Tribe Bernayini Schilder, 1927
      • † Bernaya
      • † Afrocypraea
      • Barycypraea
      • Zoila
    • Tribe Gisortiini ---> This tribe has been upgraded to subfamily Gisortiinae
  • Subfamily Cypraeinae Rafinesque, 1815
    • Tribe Cypraeini
      • † Cypraeorbis
      • Siphocypraea
      • Cypraea Rafinesque, 1815
    • Tribe Mauritiini Steadman & Cotton, 1946
      • Macrocypraea
      • Mauritia
  • Subfamily Erosariinae Schilder, 1924 (the new taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi
    Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)

    Gastropoda#Taxonomy by Bouchet & Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date system of classifying the gastropoda . This taxonomy is one step closer to representing the Evolution of Mollusca....
     doesn't mention any tribes in this subfamily)
    • Tribe Staphylaeini
      • Staphylaea
      • Cryptocypraea
    • Tribe Erosariini
      • Monetaria
      • Naria
  • Subfamily Erroneinae Schilder, 1924
    • Tribe Erroneini Schilder, 1927
      • Austrasiatica
      • Palmulacypraea
      • Erronea
      • Purpuradusta
      • Ficadusta
      • Blasicrura
    • Tribe Bistolidini C. Meyer, 2003
      • Bistolida
      • Cribrarula
      • Palmadusta
  • Subfamily Gisortiinae Schilder, 1927 (former invalid synonym Archicypraeinae Schilder, 1930 )
    • † Gisortia
    • † Vicetia
    • † Palaeocypraea
    • † Archicypraea
    • † Mandolina
    • Proadusta
    • Nesiocypraea
    • Ipsa
      IPSA

      IPSA may mean:* Indice de Precio Selectivo de Acciones * The International Political Science Association* Information Protection Solutions of America...
    • Umbilia
  • Subfamily Luriinae Schilder, 1932
    • Tribe Luriini Schilder, 1932
      • Luria
      • Talparia
    • Tribe Austrocypraeini Iredale
      Tom Iredale

      Tom Iredale was an England-born ornithologist and malacologist born at Stainburn, Workington, Cumberland, who had a long association with Australia where he lived for most of his life....
      , 1935
      • † Miolyncina
      • Trona
      • Annepona
      • Chelycypraea
      • Austrocypraea
      • Arestorides
      • Lyncina
  • Subfamily Pustulariinae Gill, 1871
    • Tribe Cypraeovulini Schilder, 1927
      • † Notoluponia
      • Notocypraea
      • Cypraeovula
    • Tribe Pseudozonariini
      • Pseudozonaria
      • Neobernaya
    • Tribe Pustulariini Gill, 1871
      • Pustularia
    • Tribe Zonariini Schilder, 1932
      • † Zonarina
      • Schilderia
      • Zonaria
  • Subfamily Umbiliinae Franc, 1968 has become a synonym of the tribe Umbiliini Schilder, 1932, that, in turn, has become a synonym of the subfamily Gisortiinae Schilder, 1927