Ovula ovum

{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | name = Ovula ovum | image = Ovula ovum,.jpg | image_caption = | taxon = Ovula ovum | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms_ref = | synonyms = * ''Amphiperas ovum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Bulla ovum'' Linnaeus, 1758 * ''Ovula alba'' Perry, 1811 * ''Ovula cygnea'' Röding, 1798 * ''Ovula oviformis'' Lamarck, 1801 * ''Ovula pygmaea'' Sowerby I, 1828 *''Ovulum gallinaceum'' Reeve, 1860 *''Xandarovula figgisae'' Cate, 1973 }}

'''''Ovula ovum''''', common name the '''common egg cowrie''', is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.<ref name="WoRMS">{{WRMS species|216904|''Ovula ovum'' (Linnaeus, 1758)|||WoRMS (2010). Ovula ovum (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at <nowiki>http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216904</nowiki> on 5 June 2010}}</ref>

==Description== The shells of these quite common cowries reach on average {{convert|65|-|70|mm}} of length, with a minimum size of {{convert|50|mm}} and a maximum size of {{convert|120|mm}}. They are egg-shaped (hence the Latin name ''ovum'', meaning egg). The surface of the shell is smooth, shiny and completely snow white, with a dark reddish-purple interior, visible through the wide and long aperture, which bears teeth on one side only. In the living cowries the mantle is black, with a pattern of small white spots in adults, while juveniles resemble some toxic nudibranchs of the genus ''Phyllidia'' owing to their orange yellow sensorial papillae. The lateral flaps of the mantle usually hide completely the white surface, but the mantle is quickly retracted into the shell opening when the cowry is disturbed.

<gallery> File:Ovula ovum Taiwan.jpg|''Ovula ovum'' with whole body covered by its mantle. This species can be easily found in the nearshore water of northeast coast of Taiwan. Caracola de mar (Ovula ovum), Zanzíbar, Tanzania, 2024-06-01, DD 37.jpg|Exemplar from Zanzibar (Tanzania). File:Ovula ovum.jpg|Juvenile ''Ovula ovum'' with orange yellow papillae looks like a toxic nudibranch ''Phyllidia'' sp. File:Ovula_ovum_01.JPG|A shell of ''Ovula ovum''. </gallery>

==Distribution== This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along East Africa (Aldabra, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Chagos) and in Western and Central Pacific Ocean (New Zealand, Australia, North Sulawesi, Malaysia, Borneo, New Caledonia, Philippines, French Polynesia and southern Japan).

==Habitat== ''Ovula ovum'' lives in tropical reef in shallow waters at {{convert|2|to|20|m|ft|0}} of depth, usually on algae or soft corals, mainly feeding on Alcyonarian colonies (Leather Coral, genus ''Sarcophyton'' and ''Sinularia'' sp., Alcyoniidae).

==Feeding== ''Ovula ovum'' feeds on soft corals of the genus ''Sarcophyton'', despite them containing the toxic terpene macrolide sarcophytoxide. ''O. ovum'' probably detoxifies sarcophytoxide in the intestines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spiteller |first1=D. |chapter=Defense Strategies of Marine and Aquatic Organisms |title=Encyclopedia of Ecology |date=2008 |pages=844–852 |doi=10.1016/B978-008045405-4.00903-4}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} * Morton B. & Morton JE. (1983). The sea shore ecology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. * Lorenz F. & Fehse D. (2009). The Living Ovulidae - A manual of the families of Allied Cowries: * Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. Conchbooks, Hackenheim, Germany * Jean-François Hamel & Annie Mercier - Observations on the biology of the common egg shell Ovula ovum in Majuro, Marshall Islands - SPC Trochus Information Bulletin #12 – June 2006 * Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp. * Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196–219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch

==External links== * [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886 Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae] * [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42495434 Cate, C. N. 1973 - A systematic revision of the recent Cypraeid family Ovulidae - Veliger 15: 1-117] * [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id545917/ Biolib] * [http://doris.ffessm.fr/fiche2.asp?fiche_numero=1807 Doris] * [http://www.eol.org/pages/4865642 Eol] * [http://www.underwaterkwaj.com/shell/ovulid/Ovula-ovum.htm Ovula ovum]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovula Ovum}} Category:Ovulidae Category:Gastropods described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Ovulidae-stub}}