Palmadusta diluculum

Palmadusta diluculum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Palmadusta
Species:	P. diluculum
Binomial name
	Palmadusta diluculum; (Reeve, 1845)
Synonyms
	Cypraea diluculum Reeve, 1845 (basionym);

Palmadusta diluculum, the day-break cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Description

These quite common schnecken reach on average 25–29 millimetres (0.98–1.14 in) of length, with a maximum size of 36 millimetres (1.4 in) and a minimum size of 25 millimetres (0.98 in). The shape of these shells is somewhat pyriformly ovate, the basic coloration is brown or violet-chesnut, with two or more zones of several white dorsal zigzag-bands and distinctive dark spots on the white base. The extremities are edged with dark chesnut areas. In the living cowry the mantle is thin and smooth. The Palmadusta diluculum virginalis subspecies is smaller, the terminal spots are less accentuated to absent and dark spots on the base are totally missing.

Distribution

This species is widespread throughout the Western Indian Ocean along Sri Lanka, Aldabra, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

Habitat

This demersal tropical cowry can be found in the intertidal shallow waters in sandy to muddy areas, under stones and blocks of dead coral.

Subspecies

Palmadusta diluculum diluculum Reeve, 1845
Palmadusta diluculum virginalis Schilder & Schilder 1938

References

^ ^a ^b Palmadusta diluculum. WoRMS (2009). Palmadusta diluculum. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216885 on 12 October 2010 .

Felix Lorenz - Palmadusta diluculum and its close allies
Reeve 1845: Conchologia Iconica: Shells of Molluscous Animals Vol. III
Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey

External links

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[WoRMS-1] Palmadusta diluculum. WoRMS (2009). Palmadusta diluculum. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216885 on 12 October 2010 .

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