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annulus
Linné,
1758 |
This
is the most common cowrie of the Seychelles. It can be found everywhere
turning rocks or looking in the algae beds. |
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arabica
immanis Sch.
& Sch., 1939 |
It
is an uncommon to rare specie.
I only found one live. it was on a dead branched coral head in front
of a granit cliff where wave action is very strong. This day the water
was calm enough for swimming... |
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argus
contrastriata Perry,
1811 |
This
is an uncommon cowrie. I found several fresh dead ones, but i did
never see any live speciemen. It as usually a pinkish tint. |
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asellus
Linné,
1758 |
Supposed
to be common, i never saw any live speciemen, only found beached (common)
or fresh dead ones (uncommon). |
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caputserpentis
Linné,
1758 |
One
of the most common specie. It can be found nearly everywhere, but
mostly on the edge vitals reefs & along the rocky shoreline where
the wave action is important. Different colors may be found. First,
two general colors, black ones & brown ones. Second point : the
clear line around the syphon channel, can be white, orange/red or
blue. |
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carneola
carneola Linné,
1758 |
A
common specie, rarely big (as many cowries from Seychelles) can be
found turning medium to big rocks. Must be distinguished from it's
cousin leviathan. |
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caurica
dracaena Born,
1778 |
A
very common specie. Can be found anywehere but is mostly found under
dead corals in the calm waters beside any reef.
It can have the base pink, white or yellow. |
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chinensis
variolaria Lamarck,
1810 |
This
seems to be rare outhere. It is a very nice specie though. I found
it under a big piece of dead coral. |
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no picture
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cicercula
Linné,
1758 |
I
never found any live specimen of this specie. It is supposed to bury
deeply into sand. Always found it beached. It is supposed to live
burried in coral rubble with scurra & globulus. |
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clandestina
clandestina
Linné, 1767
clandestina passerina Melvill,
1888 |
This
is another common specie. Bigger specimens are very difficult to find.
They occur in shallow water, under small pieces of deaed corals. |
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cribraria
comma Perry,
1811 |
This
is a hard to find shell. I found some fresh dead specimens during
scuba, but never any living one. All the specimens i found were very
smalls though. |
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depressa
Gray,
1824 |
This
is a common beached shell, but a hard to find living one. I found
hundreds of washed specimens along the granitic-rocky shorelines of
Praslin, where wave action is strong. The one i found live was under
a huge piece of dead coral on the vital edge of a reef. |
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diluculum
diluculum Reeve,
1845
diluculum virginalis
Sch.
& Sch., 1938 |
This
is an uncommon to rare shell. I did only find one live (very small
and juvenile). And i only found one beached... The one on the picture
was bought to local dealer. The live specimen was found in shallow
water under a small piece of dead coral (50 cm deep). |
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erosa
Linné,
1758 |
This
is a common specie there. It may vary in lengh and size, but also
in color (clear to very dark green). Some specimens are very callous.
It is found either in calm lagoons water or on the edge of the reef.
Mostly found under rocks and coral or in branched corals. |
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fimbriata
fimbriata Gmelin,
1791 |
This
common cowrie is very small, but in one spot (Praslin) it can be really
big for the specie. Specimens are either clear or dark. They hide
under small to medium pieces of dead corals. |
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globulus
brevirostris Sch.
& Sch., 1938 |
This
specie is hard to find live, but is common beached. As its seems to
bury in sand, it would take hours of hunting to find one live... The
only live specimen i saw was crawling on the sand during daytime near
the reef. It is supposed to live burried in coral rubble with cicercula
& scurra. |
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helvola
argella Melvill,
1888 |
One
of the most common cowrie. Many variations can be found fresh dead.
The thing wich strikes me is the very dark brown-honey color of some
specimens. They hide under small pieces of dead corals anywhere. |
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hirundo
francisca Sch.
& Sch., 1938 |
An
endemic specie. The color of this local variation is not blue but
is pink. it is not always bloched. I found several beached, one fresh
dead. I know that other collectors found many ones locally in Mahé.
The live specimen i saw was hidden under a small piece of dead coralwith
many algae around, between the reef edge and the lagoon. |
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histrio
Gmelin,
1791 |
This
is also one of the most common shell of the Seychelles. Under large
stones it can be found easily by up to 4 specimens. Many variations
exists, from yellowish to blackish general color. One striking variation
is the reddish color of the base of some juvenile specimens (look
at the picture). Like the caputserpenstis it prefers rough
water. |
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isabella
isabella Linné,
1758 |
This
is a common specie. It is mostly found on the edge of the reefs. Only
the fine dark lines may vary as usually in numbers. Some do not have
any. They hide into coral formations or under pieces of dead corals. |
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kieneri
kineri Hidalgo,
1906 |
This
is an uncommon to rare specie. I saw a few live specimen though. This
is a very pretty specie. All the ones i saw where bloched.
They seem to live under small pieces of dead corals in shallow water
between the reef edge and the lagoon, like the hirundo. |
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lamarckii
Gray,
1825 |
The
only specimen I have was given to me live by a local friend (fisherman).
The shell was stuck on a fish trap by 40m of water.
The cowrie stayed stuck until the surface... The trap had a lot of
life living on it anyway. |
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leviathan
titan Sch.
& Sch., 1962 |
This
specie is mainly found during scuba searches. I never saw any live
specimen though. When the dregger was still i naction they found really
huge specimens. |
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no picture
yet
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limacina
interstincta Wood,
1828 |
This
is an uncommon to rare specie. All the beached specimens i found were
very smalls and while scuba. I only saw one living specimen. It was
a very big one compare to the beached ones, was totally black with
no usual sores. It was juvenile though. It was hidding under a medium
piece of dead coral in shallow water (lagoon). |
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lynx
Linné,
1758
|
This
is a common specie. I never saw any big specimen. Of course many colors
may be found from pink to orange as usual for this specie. They usually
hide under rocks in the lagoons. |
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mappa
rosea Gray,
1824
mappa
geographica Sch.
& Sch., 1933
|
This
is a rare specie there. It is usually found during scuba. I found
a nice fresh dead specimen in 6 meters deep though. This one was different
from the typical geographica one and is related to the mappa rosea
ssp.
I found one typical mappa
geographica during scuba, it was hidding under a medium
piece of dead coral at -28 meters of water. |
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no picture
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mauritiana
Linné,
1758
|
I
only found one huge & very old beached specimen. But a local diver
told me he saw some some years ago. This is a very rare specie there.
Strange... |
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moneta
Linné,
1758
|
This
is a very common specie, with many variations in size, shape and color,
but it can be absent of some spots. It is a shallow water specie. |
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nucleus
madagascariensis Gmelin,
1791 |
This
seems to be a rare specie there. I only found washed dead specimens.
The fishermens told me that it hides into coral formations during
daytime. |
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owenii
Sowerby,
1837 |
This
is a very rare specie. I only found a fresh dead subadult specimen. |
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poraria
Linné,
1758
|
This
is an uncommon to very rare specie. I only saw one live but found
several fresh deads. The live one was found under a piece of dead
coral on vital reef in less than a meter deep. |
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punctata
berinii Dautzenberg,
1906 |
I
have never seen this specie alive. I found a beached one some years
ago. But it is supposed to be common on some spots in Mahé
island. |
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scurra
scurra Gmelin,
1791 |
This
specie is not easy to spot. I found ones under plates out of the reef
and some on the edge of the reef, in the roots of dead attached corals.
The dorsum can be brown, grayish, golden or very dark. It is supposed
to live burried in coral rubble with cicercula & globulus. |
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staphylaea
laevigata
Dautzenberg, 1932 |
This
specie is not so common. Beached specimens are more often found than
live ones. I only found a live specimen under a very big block of
coral with algae on top. |
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stolida
clavicola Lorenz,
1998 |
I
only saw one twol live specimens. It was on the outer side of a reef.
Under a very large dead coral plate. In 2/3 meters of water.
The mantle was very thin and pale gray. |
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succinta
adusta
Lamarck, 1810 |
This
species lives at deaph near 30m and so is rarely found. The one I
have comes from a local friend who catch them in his fish trap time
to time... |
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talpa
Linné,
1758
|
This
is a common specie. Easy to spot alive because of its big size. it
is mostly found under medium pieces of dead coral or in the shadow
of huge rocks or coral formations. i found many fresh dead specimens
during scuba and snorkeling. |
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teres
Gmelin,
1791
|
This
specie is supposed to be common, but i never saw any live specimen
though. I only found several fresh dead one from different colors
and shape on the edge of vital reefs. |
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testudinaria
Linné,
1758
|
This
seems to be rare there. I only found a huge fresh dead specimen in
2 meters deep. |
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tigris
Linné,
1758
|
This
is a common specie wich can be found during daytime crawling on coral
or rocks. Many variations occurs there. I never found any fresh dead
specimen though. the one on the pictures where bought to local fishermens. |
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vitellus
Linné,
1758
|
This
is an uncomon speice. The live specimens i saw where hidden under
huge pieces of dead or live corals i nthe lagoons. Beached one are
much more commonly founds. Bigger sp. can be found in crevices on
the granit cliffs. |
