Contradusta walkeri
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contradusta walkeri is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]
| Contradusta walkeri | |
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| A shell of Contradusta walkeri from Philippines, anterior end towards the right | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Littorinimorpha |
| Family: | Cypraeidae |
| Genus: | Contradusta |
| Species: | C. walkeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Contradusta walkeri (Sowerby I, 1832) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Subspecies
Description
The shells of these common cowries reach on average 19–23 millimetres (0.75–0.91 in)of length, with a minimum size of 14 millimetres (0.55 in) and a maximum size of 39 millimetres (1.5 in). The shape is usually oval, the dorsum surface is smooth and shiny, the basic color is pale brown, with a wide dark brown trasversal band and some small irregular brown patches on the top. The margins are white, with several brown dots. The base may be white, purple or cream and the wide and sinuous aperture shows long labial teeth. The interior of the shell may be purple. In the living cowries the mantle is transparent, with short sensorial papillae.
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Distribution
This species is distributed in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean along the Seychelles, in the West Pacific along South East Asia, the Philippines, Melanesia and Australia.
Habitat
They live in tropical subtidal waters and in continental shelf at about 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) of depth, usually on coral reef or under rocks.
