Unknown cypraea sp. Any ideas?

[GRB]

Hi all,

Been trying to identify this (dead museum) specimen for the last hour or so with no success.

Any ideas? I thought some variety of C.onyx, but I can't see any with this blue uniform spot (rather than two bands).

 

[pagojoe]

Yes, it's Cypraea (Mauritia) mauritiana. They usually don't show that much purple even when they are heavily eroded or ground down, though.

Cheers,



Don

 

[pagojoe]

I probably should have mentioned that almost all cowries will show purple under the glaze if you remove it. If the cowry is eroded or polished down like this one, the color becomes pretty much useless as an identifying factor. You are left with the shape, color of the base, teeth, and size as identifying characteristics. There aren't any others that are very similar to the humpback cowry, so that makes this ID fairly easy.

Cheers again,


Don