Bistolida erythraeensis

Bistolida erythraeensis, the Red Sea cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Bistolida erythraeensis
Bistolida erythraeensis, Somalia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Bistolida
Species:	B. erythraeensis
Binomial name
Bistolida erythraeensis (Sowerby I, 1837)
Synonyms
Cypraea erythraeensis Sowerby I, 1837 (basionym) Cypraea avalitensis Jousseaume, 1894

Description

Bistolida erythraeensis, anterior end towards the right

These quite uncommon shells reach 12–22 millimetres (0.47–0.87 in) of length, with a maximum size of 32 millimetres (1.3 in). The shell surface is smooth and shiny. The dorsum is grey or pale bluish with small brown irregular blotches and spots, one or more trasversal bands and two brown spots at each end, while the base is whitish-grey with several brown spots. The shape of these shells is elongated oval, the aperture is long and narrow, outer and inner lips have fine teeth, with a tongue-shaped radula. In the living cowry the mantle and the foot are well developed, usually with external antennae. The mantle is thin, transparent and greyish-white, with many white papillae and covers almost entirely the shell.

Distribution

This species can be found in the Red Sea, and the seas along Aden, Eritrea, Somalia, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Habitat

These cowries live in warm tropical and subtropical waters, from intertidal zone to the shallow reef, at about 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) of depth, mainly on coral reefs, in caves, under rock slabs or on sandy seabed. They fear daylight and feed at dawn or dusk on algae, sponges, coral polyps and small crustaceans.

External links

• Seashell
• "Bistolida erythraeensis". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
• Rbridges
• Flmnh
• WoRMS
• Xenophora