Luria isabella
{{Short description|Species of gastropod}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Luria isabella 01.JPG
| image_caption = Five views of a shell of Luria isabella
| image2 = Luria isabella 02 600x600.jpg
| image2_caption = A lateral view of a shell of Luria isabella, anterior end towards the right
| genus = Luria
| species = isabella
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Wyst-isabella.jpg
| range_map_caption =
| synonyms =
- Cypraea isabella Linnaeus, 1758
- Cypraea literata Time, 1822
- Cypraea clara Gaskoin, J.S., 1851
- Cypraea isabelloides Schilder, F.A., 1924
- Cypraea cavia Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1946
- Cypraea lemuriana Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1946
- Cypraea cylindroides Coen, G.S., 1949
}}
Luria isabella, common names Isabel's cowry, Isabella cowry or fawn-coloured cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216862 WoRMS : Luria isabella]; accessed : 17 October 2010
Description
The shells of these very common cowries reach on average {{convert|25|-|35|mm}} of length, with a minimum size of {{convert|8|mm}} and a maximum size of {{convert|54|mm}}. The basic color of these cylindrical-shaped shells is light beige or fawn or pale reddish-brown, the dorsum surface is crossed by thin discontinuous longitudinal markings and the extremities show orange-red terminal spots. The base is mainly white and the long and narrow aperture has several short teeth. In the living cowries the well developed mantle is black matt and almost velvety, with external short antennae.
File:Caracola de mar (Luria isabella), Zanzíbar, Tanzania, 2024-05-30, DD 70.jpg]]
Distribution
This species lives in the Red Sea, along the East African coast, the Mascarene Basin and in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean (Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Melanesia, Philippines, Southern Japan, Taiwan) up to Hawaii.
Fossils have been found in Holocene strata on the Eniwetok Atol, Marshall Islands and in Pliocene or Pleistocene strata on Guam.
Habitat
Living cowries of this species can be encountered in a wide range of habitats, in shallow and in intertidal waters up to about {{convert|35|m}} of depth. During the day they usually stay under rocks and stones or in small holes or coral caves. At dawn or dusk they start feeding on sponges, algae or coral polyps.
Subspecies
There have been a great many subspecies named, but most names are very dubious. However the following are generally accepted as valid names:
- Luria isabella isabella (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Luria isabella controversa (Gray, 1824) (sometimes accepted as Luria controversa)
- Luria isabella gilvella Lorenz, 1999
- Luria isabella lekalekana Ladd, 1934
- Luria isabella mexicana Stearns, 1893
References
{{Reflist}}
- Verdcourt, B. (1954). The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129-144, 17 pls.
External links
{{Commons category|Luria isabella}}
- [https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp533 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] {{PD-notice}}
- [http://www.cowry.org/archive/NAMESg_i.HTM#isabella On-line articles with Cypraea isabella in the HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS (1960-1994)]
- [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id142840/ Biolib]
- [http://www.underwaterkwaj.com/cowry/Luria-isabella.htm Underwater]
- {{Gastropods.com|key=5|id=65|title=Luria isabella|access-date=16 January 2019}}
- [http://clade.ansp.org/obis/search.php/8486 Clade]
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