Tiger cowrie
Cypraea tigris
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 216843, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Tiger cowrie
- Scientific
- Cypraea tigris
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Cowries
- Family
- Cypraeidae (cowries)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 16 cm (shell length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 30 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The tiger cowrie is one of the largest and best-known cowries, with a glossy, domed shell up to about 15 cm long, white to bluish with scattered dark brown to black spots. When the animal is active, its mantle, covered in small branched papillae, spreads over the shell and hides it. It lives on coral reefs and rubble and is mostly active at night, feeding on algae and small invertebrates.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=19); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=169, 49 observers); SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Cypraea-tigris.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=216843
- inaturalist.org /taxa/84107
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Cypraea_tigris_(Tiger_cowrie).jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.