Naria helvola

Naria helvola, common name: the honey cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]

Naria helvola
Five views of a shell of Naria helvola
Specimen from Mlandingan Situbondo, East Java
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Naria
Species:
N. helvola
Binomial name
Naria helvola
Synonyms[1]
  • Cypraea helvola Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym)
  • Erosaria helvola (Linnaeus, 1758)

There are three subspecies and one variety:[1]

  • Naria helvola bellatrix (Lorenz, 2009)
  • Naria helvola hawaiiensis (Melvill, 1888)
  • Naria helvola helvola (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Naria helvola var. callista (Shaw, 1909)

An additional subspecies or variety, N. helvola var. theobroma, is attested by Angga (2019) but not recorded in WoRMS.

Description

These very common small shells reach on average 15–23 millimetres (0.59–0.91 in) of length, with a maximum size of 36 millimetres (1.4 in) and a minimum size of 8 millimetres (0.31 in). The basic color of the shell is orange-brown or beige, with many white dots on the top of the dorsum. The underside is orange-brown. In the living cowries the mantle is transparent, with short white papillae.


Naria helvola, lateral view, anterior end towards the right

Distribution

This species is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, along the Red Sea, Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Polynesia and Hawaii.

Habitat

Naria helvola lives in intertidal and shallow subtidal waters or in lagoons, usually hiding during the day under the rocks of the reef.

References
Notes
  1. Naria helvola (Linnaeus). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 6 January 2019.
Bibliography
  • 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.
  • Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey
  • Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg
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