Staphylaea staphylaea

Staphylaea staphylaea (common name: the stippled cowry) is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

It is oval, the dorsum surface is pale greyish with a thin longitudinal line in the middle, many small round protuberances and two brown areas at the extremities.

The small teeth are extended to both sides of the entire base.

In the living cowries the transparent mantle has an orange coloration, with long finger-like projections.

This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia, South Mozambique, Tanzania and in Polynesia, Australia and Vanuatu.

Shells of Staphylaea staphylaea from Reunion Island at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano . Dorsal and ventral view
Distribution map of Staphylaea staphylaea