Mauritia eglantina

Mauritia eglantina, the 'dog-rose cowry' or 'eglantine cowry', is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.


 * Subspecies:
 * Mauritia eglantina huberi Thach, 2018

Description
These quite common shells reach on average 44 - 52 mm of length, with a maximum size of 80 mm and a minimum size of 27 mm. These cowries are rather elongated, smooth and shiny. The basic color of the dorsum is brown, with clear spots and many thin longitudinal lines. Almost in the middle of the dorsum there is a clearer longitudinal band. The base may be white, pale pink or pale brown. The edges show several brown dots. The teeth of the aperture are well developed. Mauritia eglantina can be easily confused with Mauritia arabica. In the living cowry the mantle is brown and thin.

Distribution
Mauritia eglantina is a species of Eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean, ranging from eastern Polynesia and Micronesia, Samoa Islands, New Caledonia up to Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Philippines and Northern Australia.

Habitat
This species prefers rather shallow waters, lagoon reef habitats and coral rocks at 2 - 15 m of depth.