Lyncina vitellus

{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lyncina_vitellus_vitellus_01.JPG | image_caption = Five views of a shell of ''Lyncina vitellus'' | genus = Lyncina | species = vitellus | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="WoRMS" /> | synonyms = *''Cypraea vitellus'' Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym) *'' Lyncina vitellus polynesiae'' Schilder & Schilder, 1939 <ref>[http://www.cypraea.eu/species/vitellus.htm Collection of Cypraea]</ref> }}

'''''Lyncina vitellus''''', common name : the '''calf cowry''' or the '''Pacific deer cowry''', is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.<ref name="WoRMS">{{WRMS species|530884 |''Lyncina vitellus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)|||WoRMS (2009). Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at <nowiki>http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=530884 </nowiki> on 5 June 2010}}</ref>

==Subspecies and formae== * ''Lyncina vitellus dama'' (Perry, 1811) <ref>{{Gastropods.com|key=8|id=4368|title=''Lyncina vitellus dama''|access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref> * ''Lyncina vitellus polynesiae'' Schilder & Schilder 1939 <ref>{{Gastropods.com|key=9|id=4369|title=''Lyncina vitellus polynesiae''|access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref> *'' Lyncina vitellus vitellus orcina'' Iredale, 1931 <ref>{{Gastropods.com|key=8|id=9498|title=''Lyncina vitellus vitellus orcina''|access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref>

==Description== thumb|left|underside of a living ''Lyncina vitellus'' The shells of these very common cowries reach on average {{convert|35|-|45|mm}} of length, with a minimum size of {{convert|20|mm}} and a maximum size of {{convert|100|mm}}. The shape is usually pear-shaped, the dorsum surface is smooth and shiny and may be pale or dark brown, with several small white spots. The margins and the extremities are clearer, while the base is generally white, with a wide sinuous aperture and long labial teeth. The margins show also numerous thin vertical whitish lines. The juvenile forms have two-three clearer trasversal bands on the shell dorsum. These shells are quite similar and may be confused with the shells of ''Lyncina camelopardalis''. In the living cowries the mantle is grey-brown and almost transparent, with long whitish tree-shaped papillae. Mantle and foot are very well developed, usually with external antennae. {| ||[[File:Cypraea vitellus-8.JPG|thumb|200px|left|A shell of ''Lyncina vitellus'', anterior end towards the right]] ||[[File:Cypraeidae - Lyncina vitellus-1.JPG|thumb|200px|left|A shell of ''Lyncina vitellus'', dorsal view, anterior end towards the right]] ||[[File:Cypraeidae - Lyncina vitellus.JPG|thumb|200px|left|A shell of ''Lyncina vitellus'', lateral view, anterior end towards the right]] ||[[File:Cypraea vitellus 002.jpg|thumb|180px|left|A shell of ''Lyncina vitellus polynesiae'', lateral view, anterior end towards the right]] ||[[File:Cypraea vitellus 001.jpg|thumb|180px|left|A shell of ''Lyncina vitellus polynesiae'', ventral view, anterior end towards the left]] |}

==Distribution== This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania and also along Jeju island, Philippines, Palau Islands, Samoa Islands, Polynesia, Hawaii and Vietnam.

==Habitat== They live in tropical intertidal and subtidal water at about {{convert|0|-|25|m}}of depth on coral reef, usually under coral slabs and stones.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id24530/ Biolib] * [http://www.sealifebase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?id=86907&lang=italian Sealife]

Category:Cypraeidae Category:Gastropods described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus