Lyncina aurantium

Callistocypraea aurantium, (formerly classified inside genus lyncina) common name the golden cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[2]

Callistocypraea aurantium
A lateral view of a shell of Callistocypraea aurantium, anterior end towards the left
Dorsal view of a shell of Callistocypraea aurantium, anterior end to the right
Scientific classification
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L. aurantium
Binomial name
Callistocypraea aurantium
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]

Distribution

This is an uncommon-to-rare species which is found in the tropical waters of the west-central to south-central Pacific Ocean.

Habitat

This animal is usually found on the ocean side of islands, on the reef, at depths of 30 to 100+ feet. It normally hides in the coral during daylight and comes out to feed at night.

Shell description

This is a large cowry (80 to 100 mm long). The shell that is yellowish brown to reddish orange on the dorsum, with white to cream colored margins. The mantle of the golden cowry is a combination of dark gray with translucent spots and patches that the orange color of the shell shows through. The scattered branching papillae are brownish gray, often white at the bases and tips.

Human use

In the past, on the Fiji Islands, this shell, known as "bulikula", was drilled at the ends and worn on a string around the neck by chieftains as a symbol of rank or privilege.[3] As the shells are rare, they are prized by collectors.

gollark: Which makes sense, since it's the lizards spying on us from on top of the dome above the hexagonal Earth.
gollark: They just say "but TERRORISM" to shut down any critical reasoning about it and paint anyone who disagrees as *unpatriotic* and *eeeevil*.
gollark: Wikipedia notes misuse of *non-*mass surveillance in past. Spying on everyone and everything they do online will make it worse.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States
gollark: Oh, this too:- ignoring relevant laws and gathering data anyway until new laws can retroactively allow it- getting around limits on spying on citizens by sharing data with other "Five Eyes" nations and spying on them as foreigners
gollark: Well, it's pretty known that they do go around intercepting lots of stuff. There are many problems with this:- having private data like your internet traffic stored somewhere is kind of bad in itself.- if it's not abused yet it's basically only a matter of time.- there's no transparency anywhere and even a system of secret courts to judge things- it may help slightly to stop terrorists (no transparency so we can't check really) but is just a massive breach of privacy

References

  1. Eddie Hardy. "Callistocypraea aurantium".
  2. Callistocypraea aurantium (Gmelin, 1791). WoRMS (2009). Callistocypraea aurantium (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216865 on 5 June 2010 .
  3. Cowries as a badge of rank in Fiji. (archived)
  • A Guide To Shell Collecting In The Kwajalein Atoll, F.B. Brost and R.D. Coale, 1971.
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