Zonaria pyrum

Zonaria pyrum, common name the pear cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.


 * Subspecies:
 * Zonaria pyrum insularum F . A. Schilder, 1928
 * Zonaria pyrum pyrum (Gmelin, 1791)

Description
The shells of these quite common cowries reach on average 32 - 38 mm of length, with a minimum size of 17 mm and a maximum size of 52 mm.

Description
They are very variable in pattern and colour. The surface is smooth and shiny, their basic color is usually orange-brown, with many brown spots and two or three clear trasversal bands. The base, the margins and the teeth are orange or pinkish. In the living cowries mantle and foot are quite developed, with external antennae. The mantle is orange-reddish, with yellow papillae. The lateral flaps may hide completely the shell surface and may be quickly retracted into the shell opening.

Distribution
This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea to southwest Africa, off Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Italy, Lampedusa Island, Sicily, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Senegal, Gabon and Angola.

Habitat
These cowries live in tropical and subtropical waters usually up to 15 - 50 m of depth, hidden under rocks or coral slabs and caves. They are omnivore-grazer, mainly feeding at night on sponges, algae and corals.