Palmadusta clandestina
Appearance
Palmadusta clandestina | |
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Scientific classification | |
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Species: | P. clandestina
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Binomial name | |
Palmadusta clandestina (Linnaeus)
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Synonyms[1] | |
Cypraea clandestina Linnaeus, 1767 (basionym) |
Palmadusta clandestina is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]
- Subspecies
- Palmadusta clandestina candida (Pease, 1865)
- Palmadusta clandestina clandestina (Linnaeus, 1767)
- Palmadusta clandestina passerina (Melv.)
Description
P. clandestina has the flat-sided egg shape typical of cowries, and is around 26 mm long.[1] In a defence mechanism reminiscent of some other acid-producing cowries, this species secretes sulphuric acid when disturbed.[2]
Distribution
This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania
References
- ^ a b c Palmadusta clandestina (Linnaeus). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
- ^ "Morphological Variation in the Tiger Cowrie Shell, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, 1758". Department of Invertebratge Zoology: Features. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- Verdcourt, B. (1954). The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129-144, 17 pls
- Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice