Cowrie (early juvenile)

[conchylinet]

Hello,

I don't know if somebody is familiar with juvenile cowries and could help me determining this one.
It was beached and come from Mauritius, it measures 24mm.



Thanks
Pierre

[Emma]

Hello Pierre,

I'm not sure, but my guess is it is a Bulla stage chelcypraea testudinaria because they start out white/ beige with darker bands. However, I have only ever seen late stage bulla specimens, e.g., when the lip is already formed. I don't think it is cypraea tigris, but the bulla stage of a tigris is usually blueish or at least dark colours. When I first looked at your picture, the first one I though of was chelcypraea testudinaria.

I hope this is of some help

Best wishes,

Emma.

[conchylinet]

Thank you Emma, it helps a little but C. testudinaria is rather uncommon/deep in Mauritius and never found beached. That one was beached from the lagoon, I expected a more common Cypraea (carneola, lynx, vittelus, isabella, tigris, erosa...). Does this information help to sort it out ?
Cheers,
Pierre.

[Emma]

Hi Pierre,

I've had a look in Dr. Lorenz's "A Guide to Worldwide cowries", and on Plate 105 there are some Juvenile Cypraea tigris. By the shape of the lip, the banding and the whitish colouring of your specimen, my best guess is cypraea tigris. It's deffinetely not cy. vitellus, which is pictured on the same page.  And at 22mm, I think it might be too big for a bulla stage of a lynx, isabella or erosa.
I hope this information helps,

Best wishes,

Emma.

[conchylinet]

Hi Emma,
Thanks for getting back with that one. tigris is fine with me, it is commonly observed in the lagoon. Pierre.