Monetaria caputserpentis

Monetaria caputserpentis, common name the serpent's-head cowry or snakehead cowry, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Monetaria caputserpentis
A live individual of Monetaria caputserpentis, anterior end towards the right
A shell of Monetaria caputserpentis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Monetaria
Species:	M. caputserpentis
Binomial name
Monetaria caputserpentis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Cypraea mauritiana Linnaeus, 1758 Cypraea reticulum Gmelin, 1791 Cypraea bandata Perry, 1811 Cypraea albella Lamarck, 1822 Cypraea caputanguis Philippi, 1849 Cypraea caputanguis var. sophia Brazier, 1897 Cypraea caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758 Cypraea caputserpentis var. caputcolubri Kenyon, 1898 Cypraea caputserpentis var. candidata Sullioti, 1924 Cypraea caputserpentis var. argentata Dautzenberg & Bouge, 1933 Erosaria caputserpentis (Linnaeus, 1758) Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis kenyonae Schilder & Schilder, 1938 Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis mikado Schilder & Schilder, 1938 Erosaria (Ravitrona) caputserpentis var. albosignata Coen, 1949

Distribution

Distribution map of Monetaria caputserpentis

This species occurs in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, tropical Indo-West Pacific, Australia and the Philippines. This sea snail lives on corals, rock reefs and rocky shores from the intertidal zone down to depths of 200 m.

Description

The basic color of the shell is reddish-brown, with many whitish dots on the top of the dorsum, which sometimes shows a clear longitudinal line. The underside is light beige.

Frequently these shells are sold with a purple top, which is achieved by dipping the dorsum in acid.

Synonyms

In literature and on various websites the synonym Cypraea caputserpentis is still commonly used.

There are two subspecies :

• Monetaria caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus (synonym : Cypraea caputserpentis caputserpentis Linnaeus, 1758)
• Monetaria caputserpentis caputophidii (Schilder, 1927)

Video of two living cowries; Erosaria helvola (seen 1st) & Monetaria caputserpentis (last)

Monetaria caputserpentis

Monetaria caputserpentis

Further reading

• Cantera J. R. (1991). "First record of the Indo-Pacific gastropod Cypraea caputserpentis (Linnaeus, 1758) at Isla Gorgona, Colombia". Veliger 34: 85–87.
• Meyer C. 2003. Molecular systematics of cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) and diversification patterns in the tropics. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 79: 401–459. page(s): 411

External links

• Ladd, H.S. (1977). Cenozoic fossil mollusks from western Pacific islands; Gastropods (Eratoidae through Harpidae). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 533: i–iv, 1–84, pls 1–23 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• On-line articles with Cypraea caputserpentis in the HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS (1960-1994)
• OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan database
• Photos of Monetaria caputserpentis on Sealife Collection