Lyncina lynx

Lyncina lynx, common name : the lynx cowry or eyed cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Description
Lyncina lynx is quite common. The shells of these cowries are very variabile in pattern and size. They reach on average 38 - 50 mm of length, with a minimum size of 18 mm and a maximum size of 90 mm. The dorsum surface of these smooth and shiny shells is generally pale brown, pale purple or grey, densely covered with small and large dark brown or purple dots. The large spots are extended to the edges. The base is white or pale brown. The aperture is long and narrow, with several white teeth and a bright reddish spacing. In the living cowries the mantle is transparent, with tree-shaped white sensorial papillae and may cover the entire shell.

Distribution
This species occurs in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean along South-East Africa (Aldabra, Chagos, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles, Zanzibar and Tanzania) and in the western  Pacific Ocean (Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, western and northern Australia, Polynesia and Hawaii).

Habitat
These cowries live in tropical shallow water, subtidal and intertidal, usually under rocks or corals up to about 10 mof depth. They start feeding at dusk, mainly on sponges.

Subspecies

 * Cypraea lynx var. williamsi Melvill, 1888
 * Cypraea (Luponia) lynx globosa Dautzenberg, 1902
 * Cypraea lynx var.michaelis Melvill, 1905
 * Cypraea lynx var. incrassata Dautzenberg, 1929
 * Lyncina lynx pacifica Steadman & Cotton, 1943
 * Cypraea (Lyncina) lynx var. javana Coen, 1949