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Erronea onyx

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Kingdom
  
Superfamily
  
Cypraeoidea

Subfamily
  
Erroneinae

Scientific name
  
Erronea onyx

Rank
  
Species

Class
  
Family
  
Genus
  
Erronea

Phylum
  
Erronea onyx httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Similar
  
Erronea, Erosaria miliaris, Lyncina carneola, Lyncina vitellus, Erronea errones

Erronea onyx, common name the onyx cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Contents

Description

The shells of these quite common cowries reach on average 32–38 millimetres (1.3–1.5 in) of length, with a minimum size of 24 millimetres (0.94 in) and a maximum size of 57 millimetres (2.2 in). The dorsum surface of Erronea onyx is smooth, shiny and generally golden brown, with alternating longitudinal fuzzy bands of traslucent bluish and reddish colors (hence the Latin name onyx). The base and the margins are dark brown or black, sometimes the teeth are orange (especially in Erronea onyx adusta). In the living cowries mantle is dark brown, quite thin, with bluish papillae.

Distribution

This species occurs the Indian Ocean on the coasts of Aldabra, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Tanzania and in the Pacific Ocean along East China, Thailand, northern Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Palau Islands and Solomon Islands.

Habitat

Erronea onyx lives in tropical and subtropical zones, in shallow subtidal water up to 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) depth, mainly in muddy areas or sandy sea floor, feeding on algae or coral polyps.

Subspecies

What used to be called Erronea onyx adusta, Lamarck, 1810 is now accepted as Erronea succincta adusta.

References

Erronea onyx Wikipedia


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