new cowrie shell

[morgan]

hey check this new guy out my cool new invert
the way this cowrie keeps it sheel all nice and polished is very cool and when the mantle covers the shell it looks spikey and black





anyone know what these things preferred diet is
and what easts fan worms cause my population is pretty crazy

 

[Krish]

Looks cool Morgan! Not sure what they eat though

 

[morgan]

i tryed to resize but i think if u click on the pick u get a full shot the pattern is so cool and detailed i hope it lives for many years and gets very large

 

[LakeEd]

Morgan,

I have always heard that the Cowries prefer algae and diatoms... but some species when larger may also munch on sponges and some soft corals.

I'm most likely wrong... but yours look like the Tiger Cowrie. Those, and the Money Cowries, tend to be in the smaller range... so munchin on sponges & soft corals shouldn't be a problem with either of those.

 

[NaH2O]

Here are a couple of articles: Cowries by Rob Toonen

The Grazing Snails, Part III: Conchs, Ceriths, Cowries, and Columbellids by Ron Shimek

Did you collect yours near home, or purchase it? Here are a couple of images to look through, and I'll give you the link to continue the search for a close genus and species. There are so many:

Mauritia arabica arabica

Mauritia arabica massauensis

Mauritia eglantina

Here is the link: SuperFamily Cypraeoidea

 

[Ashlar]

Hrmm.. if that's the same guy as this..

then you may want to watch out if you have any zoas or gsp. I picked up two of these as 'spotted cowries' from an ebay seller out of Corpus Christi, TX only to find that they love to munch zoas and GSP (not sure what else, I relegated them to the sump until I could find them a new home.)

 

[morgan]

wats gsp
this is a local cowrie to western australia i bought it for 21 dollars should of just caught one my self
unless this ebay seller got his from indoniesa i doubt they could be the same urs looks bigger but less of the pattern that mine has more spots
i hope it dosent eat zoas cause ill have to move it which will be hard cause its not out very often

 

[morgan]

i read that article it was good but not deep enough i think the thrid species u posted is my cowrie which is slightly differnt to Ashlars which is a very nice cowrie but not a good tank mate i hope mine fairs better well it cant be as bad as that orange discomorph eating starfish i had

 

[Ashlar]

Mine was only out and about at night. What I'd suggest is getting a red light and watching him closely for a few evenings, just to be sure.

GSP = Green Star Polyps (aka daisy polyps, star polyps) Pachyclavularia sp.

 

[Boomer]

Morgan

Some of those Nikii posted are close but a Cowrie that is common to Western Australia is the Cypraea histrio/Mauritia histrio

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Cypraea histrio&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wi

http://www.gastropods.com/3/Shell_63.html

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Mauritia histrio&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wi