Contradusta pulchella
Encyclopedia
Contradusta pulchella, common name
the pretty cowry or beautiful (little) cowry, is a species
of sea snail
, a cowry
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Cypraeidae
, the cowries.
, East China
, Vietnam
, Thailand
, Philippines
and New Guinea
. The supspecies Contradusta pulchella var. pericalles occurs in the Gulf of Oman
.
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
the pretty cowry or beautiful (little) cowry, is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
, a cowry
Cowry
Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries...
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Cypraeidae
Cypraeidae
Cypraeidae, common name the cowries , is a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.-Shell description:...
, the cowries.
Description
The shells of these quite uncommon cowries reach on average 35–38 mm (1.4–1.5 ) of length, with a minimum size of 23 millimetre (0.905511811023622 in) and a maximum size of 48 millimetres (1.9 in). The surface of the pear-shaped shells is smooth and shiny, their basic color is usually whitish or yellowish, with many small beige spots, two longitudinal irregular dark brown stain-like patches and one or two light brown transversal bands, but their pattern is very variable. The base and the margins are whitish with brown spots, while the teeth are dark brown. In the living cowries the mantle is clear, with long sensorial papillae. Mantle and foot are well developed, with external antennae. The lateral flaps of the mantle may completely hide the shell surface and can be quickly retracted into the shell opening. Contradusta pulchella is quite similar to Erronea pyriformis.| | |
Distribution
This species occurs in the sea on the coasts of JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, East China
East China
East China is a geographical and a loosely-defined cultural region that covers the eastern coastal area of China.Although an intangible and loosely defined concept, for administrative and governmental purposes, the region is defined by the government of the People's Republic of China to include...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. The supspecies Contradusta pulchella var. pericalles occurs in the Gulf of Oman
Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman is a strait that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It is generally included as a branch of the Persian Gulf, not as an arm of the Arabian Sea. On the north coast is Pakistan and Iran...
.
Subspecies
- Contradusta pulchella pulchella (Swainson, W.A., 1823)
- Contradusta pulchella aliguayensis a (Van Heesvelde & Deprez, 2002)
- Contradusta pulchella pericalles (Melvill & Standen, 1904
- Contradusta pulchella novaebritanniae Schilder & Schilder 1937