WoRMS name details
Cypraea vitellus Linnaeus, 1758
216827 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:216827)
unaccepted (superseded combination)
Species
- Subspecies Cypraea vitellus dama Perry, 1811 accepted as Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Subspecies Cypraea vitellus fergusoni Rous, 1905 accepted as Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
- Variety Cypraea vitellus var. distorta Iredale, 1935 accepted as Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
- Variety Cypraea vitellus var. fergusoni Rous, 1905 accepted as Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758) (junior subjective synonym)
- Variety Cypraea vitellus var. sarcodes Melvill, 1888 accepted as Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
Linnaeus, C. (1758). <i>Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis</i>. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 721 [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 721 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Description Thick, solid, inflated shell, up to 9 cm, with strong teeth on outer lip. Dorsum olive to red-brown, covered with white...
Description Thick, solid, inflated shell, up to 9 cm, with strong teeth on outer lip. Dorsum olive to red-brown, covered with white spots of varying size. Base white or pale pink. Habitat: often under boulder on reef crest. Distribution: Indo-Pacific (Richmond, 1997); tropical Indo-Pacific, also in Australia in Kalk (1958). [details]
MolluscaBase eds. (2026). MolluscaBase. Cypraea vitellus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216827 on 2026-07-08
Date
action
by
2000-09-14 06:49:43Z
changed
Garcia, Maria
The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 License
Nomenclature
original description
Linnaeus, C. (1758). <i>Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis</i>. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 721 [details] Available for editors [request]
basis of record Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey. (look up in IMIS) [details]
page(s): 721 [details] Available for editors
[request]basis of record Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey. (look up in IMIS) [details]
Other
additional source
Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219. <em>in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia.</em> Canterbury University Press, Christchurch. [details] 
additional source Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.
page(s): 62 [details]
additional source Bosch D.T., Dance S.P., Moolenbeek R.G. & Oliver P.G. (1995) <i>Seashells of eastern Arabia.</i> Dubai: Motivate Publishing. 296 pp.
page(s): 81, fig. 281 [details]
additional source Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.
page(s): 62 [details]
additional source Bosch D.T., Dance S.P., Moolenbeek R.G. & Oliver P.G. (1995) <i>Seashells of eastern Arabia.</i> Dubai: Motivate Publishing. 296 pp.
page(s): 81, fig. 281 [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Unreviewed
Description Thick, solid, inflated shell, up to 9 cm, with strong teeth on outer lip. Dorsum olive to red-brown, covered with white spots of varying size. Base white or pale pink. Habitat: often under boulder on reef crest. Distribution: Indo-Pacific (Richmond, 1997); tropical Indo-Pacific, also in Australia in Kalk (1958). [details]
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Pacific deer cowrielittle-calf cowrie | [details] |
| German | Pazifische Rehschnecke | [details] |
| Japanese | ホシキヌタ | [details] |
To Barcode of Life (4 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (91 publications)
To Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL)
To GenBank (10 nucleotides; 20 proteins)
To NHMUK collection (Cypraea vitellus Linnaeus, 1758; NHMUK:ecatalogue:3500777)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (91 publications)
To Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL)
To GenBank (10 nucleotides; 20 proteins)
To NHMUK collection (Cypraea vitellus Linnaeus, 1758; NHMUK:ecatalogue:3500777)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection
Unreviewed
Hosted externally
