Naria turdus

Subspecies

The following forms or varieties have been described:

• Naria turdus dilatata (Dunker, R.W., 1852)
• Naria turdus distinguenda (Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1810)
• Naria turdus micheloi Chiapponi, 2009
• Naria turdus pardalina (Dunker, R.W., 1852)
• Naria turdus turdus (Lamarck)
• Naria turdus winkworthi Schilder, F.A. & M. Schilder, 1938

Description

The shells of these cowries reach on average 30 - of length, with a minimum size of 16 mm and a maximum size of 62 mm. They are quite variable in pattern and color. The shape is more or less oval, the dorsum surface is smooth and shiny, the basic color is whitish, yellowish or greenish, with small brown spots all over, becoming larger on the sides. The interior of the shell, visible through the aperture, may be light purple. The subspecies Naria turdus dilatata usually bears a large irregular patch on the dorsum. The margins are white, with several brown dots and a pronounced labial 'callus'. The base is white or pale pink, sometimes with a small brown mark in the middle. The long and wide aperture shows about 15 teeth on the columellar and labial teeth. The shells of Naria turdus are externally quite similar to Naria lamarckii. In the living cowries the mantle is yellowish or beige, with long tree-shaped brown papillae.

Distribution

The thrush cowry is distributed in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Oman and in the North West of the Indian Ocean, along Pakistan, India, in the East Africa (Comores, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Oman, Somalia, Tanzania), in the East Coast of South Africa and - as a non-indigenous species - in European waters and in the Mediterranean Sea (Lampedusa, Israel, Djerba Island in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), where it has been introduced through the Suez Canal.

This species has also been found as an introduced species in the Caribbean starting in the early 2020s. It has been observed in Aruba, Bonaire, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico.

Habitat

These cowries live in intertidal shallow waters at 2 - of depth. In the Indian Ocean they prefer the coral reef, while in the Mediterranean Sea they can be found on algal turf or sandy and muddy sea bed.

References

• Schilder, F.A. (1927). Revision der Cypraeacea (Moll. Gastr.). Archiv für Naturgeschichte. 91A(10): 1–171.
• 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
• Streftaris, N.; Zenetos, A.; Papathanassiou, E. (2005). Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 43: 419-453
• Chiapponi M. (2009). A lessepsian subspecies of Erosaria turdus (Lamarck, 1810) (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) . Acta Conchyliorum, 10: 95-101
• Heiman E.L. (2014) Erosaria turdus singeri, a new subspecies. Triton 29: 12–14.
• Lorenz, F. (2017). Cowries. A guide to the gastropod family Cypraeidae. Volume 1, Biology and systematics. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 644 pp.

References

1. "''Naria turdus''".
2. {{WRMS species. 1079151. ''Naria turdus'' (Lamarck, 1810). 6 January 2019
3. "''Naria turdus dilatata''".
4. "''Naria turdus distinguenda''".
5. "''Naria turdus micheloi''".
6. "''Naria turdus pardalina''".
7. "''Naria turdus winkworthi''".
8. Leal, José H. (2022, May 6) "An Invasive Mollusk Makes Headway in the Caribbean: Where Next?" ''Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum Curator's Blog.'' Retrieved May 27, 2022, from https://www.shellmuseum.org/post/an-invasive-mollusk-makes-headway-in-the-caribbean-where-next