444 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 





Figs. 267 and 268. 

 Cyprsea nucleus (Linnaeus). 



little oval shell, depressed, flat below, with very thick edges and 

 slightly waving. It is of a uniform yellowish-white colour, sometimes 

 citron-yellow above and white below. There are usually twelve teeth 

 in the outer lip of the adult shell. It comes from the Indian Ocean, 

 the Maldivian Isles, and the Atlantic Ocean. 



This shell, so common in collections, 

 is gathered by the women on the shore of 

 the Maldivian Isles, three days after the 

 full moons and before the new moons ; it 

 is afterwards transported to Bengal, to 

 India, and Africa, where it is used by the 

 negroes and other natives as money. 



The Madagascar Cowrie, Cyprcea Ma- 

 dagascariensis (Fig. 263), and the Granular 

 Cowrie, Cyprcca nucleus (Figs. 267 and 

 268), are beautifully marked species, 

 having the general appearance of being 

 mammillated all over. 



The species most abundant in the 

 British seas is the little Cyprcea (Trivia) 

 europaa, already mentioned ; it is very 

 small, oval, tun-bellied, the opening dilated 

 in front with smooth transverse stripes of 

 greyish, tawny, or rose-colour, with or 

 without spots. 



Cypraa mappa (Fig. 249) is oval- 

 shaped, swelling below its sides, well- 

 rounded, ornamented with small white 

 spots below, with a dorsal branching line 

 above ; the interior is violet colour, with 

 thirty-six teeth on one side, and forty-two 

 on the other. It is met with in the Indian 

 Ocean. 



The Harlequin Cowrie, Cypraa histrio 

 (Figs. 250 and 25 1), from the coast of Mada- 

 gascar, is ornamented with white spots very 

 closely arranged, and much circumscribed 

 above, with black spots upon the sides. The under side is violet. 



A very fine species, which is very common in collections, is found 

 in the Indian Ocean, from Madagascar to the Moluccas the Tiger 

 Cowrie, Cyprcea tigris, already figured with the animal. The shell 

 (Fig. 252) is large, oval, tun-bellied, thick, and convex, of a bluish 



Fig. 269. 

 Cypraea pantherina (Sol.). 



