Cowrie ID

Trying to get past my embarassing miss of the sea hare ID, so be kind

This cowrie was found on a sea whip at Aztec City, Jervis Bay. Depth 27m.

I found it interesting as it has been on this same sea whip for a several weeks and you can see the trail of eaten the polyps behind it.

ID appreciated

cheers

Leander

Dear Leander,

this is a member of the family OVULIDAE - not a real cowry. Genus Phenacovolva. For more determination, we need to see the shell in detail. There are many species in the Indo-Pacific.

Guido

Guido

Are the OVULIDAE what are referred to as the "Allied Cowries" ?

Would you need to see the empty shell, or would the external features help?

cheers

Leander

Yes Leander,

in this case the image is not enough. It probably concerns a juvenile judging after the transparancy of the shell. If you have the shell front and backview we can try a determination. An identical animal is figured in Debelius (1998) also as "sp".

Guido

I'll have a guess and say its a juvenile Phenacovolva rosea. It's pretty much impossible to tell without looking at the shell however this species is quite commonly found along the NSW central coast in late Summer when the water is at irs warmest.

See:

http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/...lva_rosea).html