Palmadusta clandestina

Palmadusta clandestina is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]

Subspecies
  • Palmadusta clandestina candida (Pease, 1865)
  • Palmadusta clandestina clandestina (Linnaeus, 1767)
  • Palmadusta clandestina passerina Melvill, 1888

Palmadusta clandestina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Cypraeoidea
Family:
Cypraeidae
Genus:
Palmadusta
Species:
P. clandestina
Binomial name
Palmadusta clandestina
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms[1]

Description

P. clandestina has the flat-sided egg shape typical of cowries, and is around 26 mm long.[1] In a defence mechanism reminiscent of some other acid-producing cowries, this species secretes sulphuric acid when disturbed.[2]

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania

References
  1. Palmadusta clandestina (Linnaeus). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
  2. "Morphological Variation in the Tiger Cowrie Shell, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, 1758". Department of Invertebratge Zoology: Features. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  • 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
  • Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice


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