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    The Cowries

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    Jobu BC
    The document summarizes information about cowries, which are marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae. Cowries generally live in tropical oceans and have smooth, colorful shells. They have an egg-shaped shell with a long, narrow opening and grooved edges. While some cowries graze algae, most kept in tanks become carnivorous. Cowries reproduce through both internal and external fertilization. In the past, cowry shells were widely used as currency in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Pacific Islands due to their availability and portability.

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    The Cowries

    Uploaded by

    Jobu BC
    347 views21 pages
    The document summarizes information about cowries, which are marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae. Cowries generally live in tropical oceans and have smooth, colorful shells. They have an egg-shaped shell with a long, narrow opening and grooved edges. While some cowries graze algae, most kept in tanks become carnivorous. Cowries reproduce through both internal and external fertilization. In the past, cowry shells were widely used as currency in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Pacific Islands due to their availability and portability.

    Original Description:

    Aqua Sci 1 - A report on Cowries

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    The document summarizes information about cowries, which are marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae. Cowries generally live in tropical oceans and have smooth, colorful shells. They have an egg-shaped shell with a long, narrow opening and grooved edges. While some cowries graze algae, most kept in tanks become carnivorous. Cowries reproduce through both internal and external fertilization. In the past, cowry shells were widely used as currency in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Pacific Islands due to their availability and portability.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    347 views21 pages

    The Cowries

    Uploaded by

    Jobu BC
    The document summarizes information about cowries, which are marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae. Cowries generally live in tropical oceans and have smooth, colorful shells. They have an egg-shaped shell with a long, narrow opening and grooved edges. While some cowries graze algae, most kept in tanks become carnivorous. Cowries reproduce through both internal and external fertilization. In the past, cowry shells were widely used as currency in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Pacific Islands due to their availability and portability.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 21
    At a glance
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    The key takeaways are that cowries are marine mollusks belonging to the family Cypraeidae. They are commonly found in tropical oceans and seas and have colorful, smooth shells.

    Cowries are classified scientifically under the kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollusca, class Gastropoda, subclass Caenogastropoda, order Littorinimorpha and superfamily Cypraeoidae. The family is Cypraeidae.

    Cowry shells are usually egg-shaped with a flat underside divided by a long, narrow aperture. The surface is usually smooth and glossy. Examples given are Lynx Cowries and Hump-back Cowries.

    The Cowries

    Jobelle Cabonce
    BACA – IV
    Scientific Classification
    Kingdom Animalia
    Phylum Mollusca
    Class Gastropoda
    Subclass Caenogastropoda
    Order Littorinimorpha
    Superfamily Cypraeoidae
    Family Cypraeidae
    Cowry
    • common name applied to marine gastropod mollusks
    belonging to the family Cypraeidae
    • generally seen on the rocky areas of the sea bed or the coral
    shores of the Tropics
     Indian and Pacific oceans
     north of Japan and south of Australia
     parts of Mediterranean and both coastlines of North America
    • the seashells are also called “cowry” and are admired for
    their smooth, glossy, porcelain-like appearance and feel and
    their bright, colorful patterns
    ANATOMY
    ANATOMY
    ANATOMY
    Characteristics
    • usually egg-shaped, with a flat under surface divided by a
    long, narrow aperture with its sides rolling inwards
    • the margins of the opening are toothed or grooved
    • the surface of the shell is usually smooth and glassy

    Lynx Cowries (C. lynx Linné) Hump-back Cowrie (C. mauritiana L.)
    Characteristics
    • when the cowrie is living, the shell is usually covered by the
    folds of the mollusk’s body known as the mantle
     these meet at the middle of the upper surface and help to protect
    the shell
     often ornamented with pointed or forked filaments

    (Cypraea chinensis) Tiger Cowrie (Cypraea tigris)


    Eating and being eaten
    • some cowries will do well grazing on algae
    and soft coral in the ocean
    • however, most cowries kept in tanks turn
    carnivorous
     they often attack one another,
    reflecting territoriality
    • their best defense against fish and other
    visual predators includes shell strength,
    escape behavior and the fact that they are
    nocturnal
    Reproduction
    • some accounts think that cowries, like other
    marine mollusks, are hermaphrodites
     the eggs and sperm are released into the water
     fertilization takes place without contact

    • while other accounts claim that it takes two to


    reproduce and that cowries are dioecious
     a copulating pair is determined if one cowry
    (male) was observed attached to another cowry
    (female) and if the penis of the male was
    introduced into the partner's mantle cavity
    Reproduction
    • they can be both male and female
     each cowrie snail has sperm and egg
    cells
     they cannot reproduce by themselves
    because they can only produce one
    gamete at a time
     when marine mollusks mate, both
    inseminate each other through
    internal fertilization
     that means that both cowries' eggs
    are fertilized, so they both lay eggs
    Reproduction
    • mating; ovoviparous; brooders
    • cowries make a small hole in the jelly-like
    bodies of sea squirts into which it
    deposits vase-shaped capsule, containing
    several hundred eggs
     they can take as long as 6 weeks between
    copulation and laying the eggs
     it then takes as long as 4 more weeks for the
    eggs to hatch
     then the larvae are planktonic for a few days
    up to two weeks
    Naming Cowries
    Cowries Named for their Appearance:
     Animals  Shape  Markings

    Tiger Cowrie Humpback Cowrie

    Gold-ringer Cowrie

    Tortoise Cowrie Nucleus Cowrie


    Naming Cowries
    Cowries Named for their Habitats: Cowries Named for its Founder:
     The Wandering Cowry  The Bartletti Cowry

    Cowries Named for their Use:


     The Money Cowry
    CowrY as currency
    • in the past, shells were used as
    currency in almost every continent
    in the world and in many of the
    islands
    • cowry was used as currency in
    trade in Africa, America, Arabia, in Money Cowrie
    (Cypraea moneta L.)
    parts of Asia including China and
    India, and in many of the Pacific
    Islands, including Papua New Gold-ringer Cowrie (cypraea
    Guinea annulus)
    symbolic Cowries
    fashionable cowries
    Thank you!
    Jobelle Cabonce
    BACA – IV

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