Lyncina aurantium

Common name: Golden cowrie

Class: Gastropoda Subclass: Caenogastropoda Order: Littorinimorpha Superfamily: Cypraeoidea Family: Cypraeidae Genus: Lyncina

Author: Gmelin 1791

       

Lyncina aurantium has a heavy, large and orange shell. The orange dorsum is smooth and glossy, and small growth lines are common. The base, margins, and extremities are white to gray, and the lips are stained in orange near the aperture. Like most cypraeas this gastropoda is a nocturnal species, hiding in crevices and caves in coral reefs during the day. The size of this shell range from 58 to 117 mm. Has a distribution in Southwest and central Pacific, where is found between the 10 and 40m depth. The Lyncina aurantium feeds on algae and is an uncommon seashell.

There is a reason why all cowries are so shiny, this is because when the animal is active, the shell is fully covered by the living tissue, called mantle, which you can see in the following picture. The mantle is generally very complex and may thus not only protect but also conceal the shell when the animal is foraging out in the open at night.