Nucleolaria granulata, common name the granulated cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Quick Facts Nucleolaria granulata, Scientific classification ...

Nucleolaria granulata
A shell of Nucleolaria granulata, anterior end towards the right
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Nucleolaria
Species:	N. granulata
Binomial name
Nucleolaria granulata W.H. Pease, 1862
Synonyms
Nucleolaria granulata cassiaui Burgess 1965 Nucleolaria granulata granulata Pease 1862 Cypraea madagascariensis Sowerby, G.B. I, 1832 Cypraea honoluluensis Melvill, J.C., 1888

Close

The shell of this quite uncommon cowry reaches on average 22–28 millimetres (0.87–1.10 in) of length, with a maximum size of 49 millimetres (1.9 in) and a minimum size of 15 millimetres (0.59 in). The shape of the shells is wide oval and appears flattened. The dorsum surface is rough, with a deep longitudinal line in the middle and many protuberances of various sizes, each other connected by thin ribs. The aperture is narrow and the outer and inner lips have fine teeth. The base is wide and the teeth are extended to cross the entire base as ribs on both sides. In the living cowries the mantle is pinkish or reddish, with well-developed papillae, which serve to camouflage these mollusks against the seabed.

This species is endemic to the Hawaii and Marquesas Islands.

Nucleolaria granulata lives in tropical shallow waters under rocks and caves usually at 5–25 metres (16–82 ft) of depth, feeding at night on sponges, algae or coral polyps.

• Felix Lorenz and Alex Hubert : A Guide to Worldwide Cowries, second revised edition, Conch Books, 2002

• Biolib
• "Nucleolaria granulata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
• N. granulata

This Cypraeidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e