Naria helvola

Naria helvola, common name: the honey cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

There are three subspecies:
 * Naria helvola bellatrix (Lorenz, 2009)
 * Naria helvola hawaiiensis (Melvill, 1888)
 * Naria helvola helvola (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Naria helvola meridionalis (Schilder & Schilder, 1938) : synonym of Naria helvola helvola (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Naria helvola var. callista (Shaw, 1909) : synonym of Naria helvola helvola (Linnaeus, 1758)

Description
These very common small shells reach on average 15 - 23 mm of length, with a maximum size of 36 mm and a minimum size of 8 mm. The basic color of the shell is orange-brown or beige, with many white dots on the top of the dorsum. The underside is orange-brown. In the living cowries the mantle is transparent, with short white papillae.



Distribution
This species occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific, along the Red Sea, Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Polynesia and Hawaii.

Habitat
Naria helvola lives in intertidal and shallow subtidal waters or in lagoons, usually hiding during the day under the rocks of the reef.