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Palmadusta clandestina

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Palmadusta clandestina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Palmadusta
Species:
P. clandestina
Binomial name
Palmadusta clandestina
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms[1]

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

Description

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Palmadusta clandestina has the flat-sided egg shape typical of cowries, and is around 26 mm long.[1] It is one of several Cypraeoidea known to use acid for defence, in this case secreting sulphuric acid when disturbed.[2]

Distribution

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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

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  1. ^ a b c Palmadusta clandestina (Linnaeus). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
  2. ^ "Cowries | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History". naturalhistory.si.edu. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  • 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