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Calf cowry
Lyncina vitellus
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 530884, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Calf cowry
- Scientific
- Lyncina vitellus
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Cowries
- Family
- Cypraeidae (cowries)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 10 cm (shell length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 25 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The calf cowry has a glossy brown shell sprinkled with round white spots and pale streaks along the sides. It lives on shallow reefs and under rocks and is most active at night.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=7); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=19, 9 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Lyncina-vitellus.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=530884
- inaturalist.org /taxa/143171
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Cypraea_vitellus-8.JPG
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.